Mexican art

Mexican art consists of various visual arts that developed over the geographical area now known as Mexico. The development of these arts roughly follows the history of Mexico, divided into the prehispanic Mesoamerican era, the colonial period, with the period after Mexican War of Independence further subdivided. Mexican art is usually filled most of the time with intricate patterns.[1]

Mesoamerican art is that produced in an area that encompasses much of what is now central and southern Mexico, before the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire for a period of about 3,000 years from 1500 BCE to 1500 CE. During this time, all influences on art production were indigenous, with art heavily tied to religion and the ruling class. There was little to no real distinction among art, architecture, and writing. The Spanish conquest led to 300 years of Spanish colonial rule, and art production remained tied to religion—most art was associated with the construction and decoration of churches, but secular art expanded in the eighteenth century, particularly casta paintings, portraiture, and history painting. Almost all art produced was in the European tradition, with late colonial-era artists trained at the Academy of San Carlos, but indigenous elements remained, beginning a continuous balancing act between European and indigenous traditions.[2]

The strength of this artistic movement was such that it affected newly invented technologies, such as still photography and cinema, and strongly promoted popular arts and crafts as part of Mexico’s identity. Since the 1950s, Mexican art has broken away from the muralist style and has been more globalized, integrating elements from Asia, with Mexican artists and filmmakers having an effect on the global stage.

It is believed that the American continent's oldest rock art, 7500 years old, is found in a cave on the peninsula of Baja California.[3]

The pre-Hispanic art of Mexico belongs to a cultural region known as Mesoamerica, which roughly corresponds to central Mexico on into Central America,[4] encompassing three thousand years from 1500 BCE to 1500 CE generally divided into three eras: Pre Classic, Classic and Post Classic.[5] The first dominant Mesoamerican culture was that of the Olmecs, which peaked around 1200 BCE. The Olmecs originated much of what is associated with Mesoamerica, such as hieroglyphic writing, calendar, first advances in astronomy, monumental sculpture (Olmec heads) and jade work.[6]

While art forms such as cave paintings and rock etchings date from earlier, the known history of Mexican art begins with Mesoamerican art created by sedentary cultures that built cities, and often, dominions.[5][6] While the art of Mesoamerica is more varied and extends over more time than anywhere else in the Americas, artistic styles show a number of similarities.[1][7]

Unlike modern Western art, almost all Mesoamerican art was created to serve religious or political needs, rather than art for art’s sake. It is strongly based on nature, the surrounding political reality and the gods.[8]Octavio Paz states that "Mesoamerican art is a logic of forms, lines, and volumes that is as the same time a cosmology." He goes on to state that this focus on space and time is highly distinct from European naturalism based on the representation of the human body. Even simple designs such as stepped frets on buildings fall into this representation of space and time, life and the gods.[9]

Art was expressed on a variety of mediums such as ceramics, amate paper and architecture.[7] Most of what is known of Mesoamerican art comes from works that cover stone buildings and pottery, mostly paintings and reliefs.[1] Ceramics date from the early the Mesoamerican period. They probably began as cooking and storage vessels but then were adapted to ritual and decorative uses. Ceramics were decorated by shaping, scratching, painting and different firing methods.[8]

The earliest known purely artistic production were small ceramic figures that appeared in Tehuacán area around 1,500 BCE and spread to Veracruz, the Valley of Mexico, Guerrero, Oaxaca, Chiapas and the Pacific coast of Guatemala.[5] The earliest of these are mostly female figures, probably associated with fertility rites because of their often oversized hips and thighs, as well as a number with babies in arms or nursing. When male figures appear they are most often soldiers.[10] The production of these ceramic figures, which would later include animals and other forms, remained an important art form for 2000 years. In the early Olmec period most were small but large-scale ceramic sculptures were produced as large as 55 cm.[11][12]

After the middle pre-Classic, ceramic sculpture declined in the center of Mexico except in the Chupícuaro region. In the Mayan areas, the art disappears in the late pre-Classic, to reappear in the Classic, mostly in the form of whistles and other musical instruments. In a few areas, such as parts of Veracruz, the creation of ceramic figures continued uninterrupted until the Spanish conquest, but as a handcraft, not a formal art.[13]

Mesoamerican painting is found in various expressions—from murals, to the creation of codices and the painting of ceramic objects. Evidence of painting goes back at least to 1800 BCE and continues uninterrupted in one form or another until the arrival of the Spanish in the 16th century.[14] Although it may have occurred earlier, the earliest known cases of artistic painting of monumental buildings occur in the early Classic period with the Mayas at Uaxactun and Tikal, and in Teotihuacan with walls painted in various colors.[5]

Paints were made from animal, vegetable and mineral pigments and bases.[15] Most paintings focus one or more human figures, which may be realistic or stylized, masculine, feminine or asexual. They may be naked or richly attired, but the social status of each figure is indicated in some way. Scenes often depict war, sacrifice, the roles of the gods or the acts of nobles. However, some common scenes with common people have been found as well.[16] Other subjects included gods, symbols and animals.[15] Mesoamerican painting was bi-dimensional with no efforts to create the illusion of depth. However, movement is often represented.[17]

Non-ceramic sculpture in Mesoamerica began with the modification of animal bones, with the oldest known piece being an animal skull from Tequixquiac that dates between 10,000 and 8,000 BCE.[10] Most Mesoamerican sculpture is of stone; while relief work on buildings is the most dominant, freestanding sculpture was done as well. Freestanding three-dimensional stone sculpture began with the Olmecs, with the most famous example being the giant Olmec stone heads. This disappeared for the rest of the Mesoamerican period in favor of relief work until the late post-Classic with the Aztecs.[18]

The majority of stonework during the Mesoamerican period is associated with monumental architecture that, along with mural painting, was considered an integral part of architecture rather than separate.[19] Monumental architecture began with the Olmecs in southern Veracruz and the coastal area of Tabasco in places such as San Lorenzo; large temples on pyramid bases can still be seen in sites such as Montenegro, Chiapa de Corzo and La Venta. This practice spread to the Oaxaca area and the Valley of Mexico, appearing in cities such as Monte Albán, Cuicuilco and Teotihuacan.[5][20]

These cities had a nucleus of one or more plazas, with temples, palaces and Mesoamerican ball courts. Alignment of these structures was based on the cardinal directions and astronomy for ceremonial purposes, such as focusing the sun’s rays during the spring equinox on a sculpted or painted image. This was generally tied to calendar systems.[21] Relief sculpture and/or painting were created as the structures were built. By the latter pre-Classic, almost all monumental structures in Mesoamerica had extensive relief work. Some of the best examples of this are Monte Albán, Teotihuacan and Tula.[22]

Pre-Hispanic reliefs are general lineal in design and low, medium and high reliefs can be found. While this technique is often favored for narrative scenes elsewhere in the world, Mesoamerican reliefs tend to focus on a single figure. The only time reliefs are used in the narrative sense is when several relief steles are placed together. The best relief work is from the Mayas, especially from Yaxchilan.[23]

Writing and art were not distinct as they have been for European cultures. Writing was considered art and art was often covering in writing.[9] The reason for this is that both sought to record history and the culture’s interpretation of reality.(salvatvolp14) Manuscripts were written on paper or other book-like materials then bundled into codices.[24] The art of reading and writing was strictly designated to the highest priest classes, as this ability was a source of their power over society.[14][17]

The pictograms or glyphs of this writing system were more formal and rigid than images found on murals and other art forms as they were considered mostly symbolic, representing formulas related to astronomical events, genealogy and historic events.[17] Most surviving pre-Hispanic codices come from the late Mesoamerican period and early colonial period, as more of these escaped destruction over history. For this reason, more is known about the Aztec Empire than the Mayan cultures.[15][24] Important Aztec codices include the Borgia Group of mainly religious works, some of which probably pre-date the conquest, the Codex Borbonicus, Codex Mendoza, and the late Florentine Codex, which is in a European style but executed by Mexican artists, probably drawing on earlier material that is now lost.

An atrium cross in Acolman. During the early period of evangelization, an enclosed open chapels for large congregations of neophytes saw the creation and placement of decorated, anthropomorphized stone crosses with Jesus at their center.

Church construction After the conquest, Spaniards' first efforts were directed at evangelization and the related task of building churches, which needed indigenous labor for basic construction, but they Nahuas elaborated stonework exteriors and decorated church interiors. Indigenous craftsmen were taught European motifs, designs and techniques, but very early work, called tequitqui (Nahuatl for “vassal”), includes elements such as flattened faces and high-stiff relief.[25][26] The Spanish friars directing construction were not trained architects or engineers. They relied on indigenous stonemasons and sculptors to build churches and other Christian structures, often in the same places as temples and shrines of the traditional religion. "Although some Indians complained about the burden such labor represented, most communities considered a large and impressive church to be a reflection of their town's importance and took justifiable pride in creating a sacred place for divine worship."[27] The fact that so many colonial-era churches have survived centuries it testament to their general good construction.

The first monasteries built in and around Mexico City, such as the monasteries on the slopes of Popocatepetl, had Renaissance, Plateresque, Gothic or Moorish elements, or some combination. They were relatively undecorated, with building efforts going more towards high walls and fortress features to ward off attacks.[28] The construction of more elaborate churches with large quantities of religious artwork would define much of the artistic output of the colonial period. Most of the production was related to the teaching and reinforcement of Church doctrine, just as in Europe. Religious art set the rationale for Spanish domination over the indigenous. Today, colonial-era structures and other works exist all over the country, with a concentration in the central highlands around Mexico City.[29]

Feather work was a highly valued skill of prehispanic central Mexico that continued into the early colonial era. Spaniards were fascinated by this form of art, and indigenous feather workers (amanteca) produced religious images in this medium, mainly small "paintings", as well as religious vestments.[30][31]

Indigenous writings Indians continued production of written manuscripts in the early colonial era, especially codices in the Nahua area of central Mexico. An important early manuscript that was commissioned for the Spanish crown was Codex Mendoza, named after the first viceroy of Mexico, Don Antonio de Mendoza, which shows the tribute delivered to the Aztec ruler from individual towns as well as descriptions of proper comportment for the common people. A far more elaborate project utilizing indigenous scribes illustration is the project resulting in the Florentine Codex directed by Franciscan Bernardino de Sahagún. Other indigenous manuscripts in the colonial era include the Huexotzinco Codex and Codex Osuna.

An important type of manuscript from the early period were pictorial and textual histories of the Spanish conquest of the Aztecs from the indigenous viewpoint. The early Lienzo de Tlaxcala illustrated the contributions the Spaniards' Tlaxcalan allies made to the defeat of the Aztec empire, as well the Hernán Cortés and his cultural translator Doña Marina (Malinche).

Painting Most Nahua artists producing this visual art are anonymous. An exception is the work of Juan Gerson, who ca. 1560 decorated the vault of the Franciscan church in the Nahua town of Tecamachalco,(Puebla state), with individual scenes from the Old Testament.[32]

While colonial art remained almost completely European in style, with muted colors and no indication of movement—the addition of native elements, which began with the tequitqui, continued. They were never the center of the works, but decorative motifs and filler, such as native foliage, pineapples, corn, and cacao.[33] Much of this can be seen on portals as well as large frescoes that often decorated the interior of churches and the walls of monastery areas closed to the public.[34]

The earliest of Mexico's colonial artists were Spanish-born who came to Mexico in the middle of their careers. This included mendicant friars, such as Fray Alonso López de Herrera. Later, most artists were born in Mexico, but trained in European techniques, often from imported engravings. This dependence on imported copies meant that Mexican works preserved styles after they had gone out of fashion in Europe.[1] In the colonial period, artists worked in guilds, not independently. Each guild had its own rules, precepts, and mandates in technique—which did not encourage innovation.[35]

Baroque painting became firmly established in Mexico by the middle of the 17th century with the work of Spaniard Sebastián López de Arteaga. His painting is exemplified by the canvas called Doubting Thomas from 1643. In this work, the Apostle Thomas is shown inserting his finger in the wound in Christ's side to emphasize Christ’s suffering. The caption below reads "the Word made flesh" and is an example of Baroque's didactic purpose.[34]

One difference between painters in Mexico and their European counterparts is that they preferred realistic directness and clarity over fantastic colors, elongated proportions and extreme spatial relationships. The goal was to create a realistic scene in which the viewer could imagine himself a part of. This was a style created by Caravaggio in Italy, which became popular with artists in Seville, from which many migrants came to New Spain came.[34] Similarly, Baroque free standing sculptures feature life-size scales, realistic skin tones and the simulation of gold-threaded garments through a technique called estofado, the application of paint over gold leaf.[34]

The most important later influence to Mexican and other painters in Latin America was the work of Flemish artist Peter Paul Rubens, known through copies made from engravings and mezzotint techniques. His paintings were copied and reworked and became the standard for both religious and secular art.[34] Later Baroque paintings moved from the confines of altarpieces to colossal freestanding canvases on church interiors. One of the best known Mexican painters of this kind of work was Cristóbal de Villalpando. His work can be seen in the sacristy of the Mexico City Cathedral, which was done between 1684 and 1686. These canvases were glued directly onto the walls with arched frames to stabilize them, and placed just under the vaults of the ceiling. Even the fresco work of the 16th century was not usually this large.[34] Another one of Villalpando's works is the cupola of the Puebla Cathedral in 1688. He used Rubens’ brush techniques and the shape of the structure to create a composition of clouds with angels and saints, from which a dove descends to represent the Holy Spirit. The light from the cupola’s windows is meant to symbolize God’s grace.[34]Juan Rodríguez Juárez (1675–1728) and mulatto artist Juan Correa (1646–1716) were also prominent painters of the baroque era. Correa's most famous student, José de Ibarra (1685–1756) was also mixed-race. One of Mexico's finest painters, Miguel Cabrera (1695–1768), was possibly mixed race.[36]

The church produced the most important works of the seventeenth century. Among the important painters were Baltasar de Echave Ibia and his son Baltasar Echave Rioja, also Luis Juárez and his son José Juárez, Juan Correa, Cristóbal de Villalpando, Rodrigo de la Piedra, Antonio de Santander, Polo Bernardino, Juan de Villalobos, Juan Salguero and Juan de Herrera. Juan Correa, worked from 1671 to 1716 and reached great prestige and reputation for the quality of its design and scale of some of his works. Among the best known: 'Apocalypse in the Cathedral of Mexico', 'Conversion of St. Mary Magdalene', now in the 'Pinacoteca Virreinal' and 'Santa Catarina and Adam and Eve casting out of paradise', the latter located in the National Museum of Viceroyalty of Tepotzotlán.[37]

Colonial religious art was sponsored by Church authorities and private patrons. Sponsoring the rich ornamentation of churches was a way for the wealthy to gain prestige.[29] In the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries, Mexico City was one of the wealthiest in the world, mostly due to mining and agriculture, and was able to support a large art scene.[38]

While most commissioned art was for churches, secular works were commissioned as well. Portrait painting was known relatively early in the colonial period, mostly of viceroys and archbishops. Beginning in the late Baroque period, portrait painting of local nobility became a significant genre. Two notable painters of this type are brothers Nicolás and Juan Rodríguez Juárez. These works followed European models, with symbols of rank and titles either displayed unattached in the outer portions or worked into another element of the paintings such as curtains.[34]

Another type of secular colonial painting is called casta paintings referring to the depiction of racial hierarchy racially in eighteenth-century New Spain. Some were likely commissioned by Spanish functionaries as souvenirs of Mexico. A number of artists of the era created casta paintings, including Miguel Cabrera, José de Ibarra, Juan Patricio Morlete Ruiz, Francisco Clapera, and Luis de Mena, but most casta paintings are unsigned. Ibarra, Morlete, and possibly Cabrera were of mixed race and born outside Mexico City.[39] Mena's only known casta painting links the Virgin of Guadalupe and the casta system, as well as depictions of fruits and vegetables and scenes of everyday life in mideighteenth-century Mexico. It is one of the most-reproduced examples of casta paintings, one of the small number that show the casta system on a single canvas rather than up to 16 separate paintings. It is unique in uniting the thoroughly secular genre of casta painting with a depiction of the Virgin of Guadalupe.[40] Production of these paintings stopped after the Mexican War of Independence, when legal racial categories were repudiated in independent Mexico. Until the run-up to the 500th anniversary of the Columbus's 1492 voyage, casta paintings were of little or no interest, even to art historians, but scholars began systematically studying them as a genre.[41][42][43]

Mexico was a crossroads of trade in the colonial period, with goods from Asia and Europe mixing with those natively produced. This convergence is most evident in the decorative arts of New Spain.[38] It was popular among the upper classes to have a main public room, called a salon de estrado, to be covered in rugs and cushions for women to recline in Moorish fashion. Stools and later chairs and settees were added for men. Folding screens were introduced from Japan, with Mexican-style ones produced called biombos The earliest of these Mexican made screens had oriental designs but later ones had European and Mexican themes. One example of this is a screen with the conquest of Mexico one side and an aerial view of Mexico City on the other at the Franz Mayer Museum.[38]

The Crown promoted the establishment in Mexico of the Neoclassical style of art and architecture, which had become popular in Spain. This style was a reinterpretation of Greco-Roman references and its use was a way to reinforce European dominance in the Spain’s colonies. One Neoclassical artist from the Academy at the end of the colonial period was Manuel Tolsá. He first taught sculpture at the Academy of San Carlos and then became its second director. Tolsá designed a number of Neoclassical buildings in Mexico but his best known work is an equestrian status of King Charles IV in bronze cast in 1803 and originally placed in the Zócalo. As of 2011 it can be seen at the Museo Nacional de Arte.[44]

Along with the construction of temples and houses artistic religious themes proliferated. In New Spain, as in the rest of the New World, since the seventeenth century, particularly during the eighteenth century, the portrait became an important part of the artistic repertoire. In a society characterized by a deep religious feeling which was imbued, it was expected that many portraits reflected the moral virtues and piety of the model.[45]

A casta painting by Miguel Cabrera, depicting in standard fashion parents of two different racial categories and the racial classification of their offspring. Here he shows a Spanish (español) father, Mestiza (mixed Spanish-Indian) mother, and their Castiza daughter.

A description of colonial art says: "In the "Sponsorship of Saint Joseph on the Caroline College", Saint Joseph is seen as a major figure of the work, who carries on his left side the child Jesus. Two archangels flank him and maintain its long purple robe. At the top two little angels are observed with intent to crown the holy". "For centuries, the work was attributed to Manuel Caro, but the meticulous restoration work allowed to find the signature of the original author. Miguel Cabrera"[47]

In the 18th century, artists increasingly included the Latin phrase pinxit Mexici (painted in Mexico) on works bound for the European market as a sign of pride in their artistic tradition.[48]

The last colonial era art institution established was the Academy of San Carlos in 1783.[44] While the depiction of saints consumed most artistic efforts, they were not without political effects. The most important of these was the rise of the cult of the Virgin of Guadalupe as an American rather than European saint, representative of a distinct identity.[49]

By the late 18th century, Spain’s colonies were becoming culturally independent from Spain, including its arts. The Academy was established by the Spanish Crown to regain control of artistic expression and the messages it disseminated. This school was staffed by Spanish artists in each of the major disciplines, with the first director being Antonio Gil.[44] The school became home to a number of plaster casts of classic statues from the San Fernando Fine Arts Academy in Spain, brought there for teaching purposes. These casts are on display in the Academy's central patio.[50] The Academy of San Carlos survived into post-independence Mexico.

Artists of the independence era in Mexico (1810–21) produced works showing the insurgency's heroes. A portrait of secular cleric José María Morelos in his military uniform was painted by an unknown artist. The portrait is typical of those from the late eighteenth century, with framing elements, a formal caption, and new elements being iconography of the emerging Mexican nationalism, including the eagle atop the nopal cactus, which became the central image for the Mexican flag.[51] Morelos was the subject of a commissioned statue, with Pedro Patiño Ixtolinque, who trained at the Academy of San Carlos and remained an important sculptor through the era of era independence.[52]

The Academy of San Carlos remained the center of academic painting and the most prestigious art institution in Mexico until the Mexican War of Independence, during which it was closed.[53] Despite its association with the Spanish Crown and European painting tradition, the Academy was reopened by the new government after Mexico gained full independence in 1821. Its former Spanish faculty and students either died during the war or returned to Spain, but when it reopened it attracted the best art students of the country, and continued to emphasize classical European traditions until the early 20th century.[53][54]

The academy was renamed to the National Academy of San Carlos. The new government continued to favor Neoclassical as it considered the Baroque a symbol of colonialism. The Neoclassical style continued in favor through the reign of Maximilian I although President Benito Juárez supported it only reluctantly, considering its European focus a vestige of colonialism.[50]

Despite Neoclassicism’s association with European domination, it remained favored by the Mexican government after Independence and was used in major government commissions at the end of the century. However, indigenous themes appeared in paintings and sculptures. One indigenous figure depicted in Neoclassical style is Tlahuicol, done by Catalan artist Manuel Vilar in 1851. In 1887, Porfirio Díaz commissioned the statue of the last Aztec emperor, Cuauhtémoc, which can be seen on Paseo de la Reforma. Cuauhtémoc is depicted with a toga-like cloak with a feathered headdress similar to an Etruscan or Trojan warrior rather than an Aztec emperor. The base has elements reminiscent of Mitla and Roman architecture. This base contains bronze plates depicting scenes from the Spanish conquest, but focusing on the indigenous figures.[54]

There were two reasons for this shift in preferred subject. The first was that Mexican society denigrated colonial culture—the indigenous past was seen as more truly Mexican.[38] The other factor was a worldwide movement among artists to confront society, which began around 1830. In Mexico, this anti-establishment sentiment was directed at the Academy of San Carlos and its European focus.[55]

In the first half of the 19th century, the Romantic style of painting was introduced into Mexico and the rest of Latin America by foreign travelers interested in the newly independent country. One of these was Bavarian artist Johann Moritz Rugendas, who lived in the country from 1831 to 1834. He painted scenes with dynamic composition and bright colors in accordance with Romantic style, looking for striking, sublime, and beautiful images in Mexico as well as other areas of Latin America. However much of Rugendas's works are sketches for major canvases, many of which were never executed. Others include Englishman Daniel Egerton, who painted landscapes in the British Romantic tradition, and German Carl Nebel, who primarily created lithographs of the various social and ethnic populations of the country.[56]

A number of native-born artists at the time followed the European Romantic painters in their desire to document the various cultures of Mexico. These painters were called costumbristas, a word deriving from costumbre (custom). The styles of these painters were not always strictly Romantic, involving other styles as well. Most of these painters were from the upper classes and educated in Europe. While the European painters viewed subjects as exotic, the costumbristas had a more nationalistic sense of their home countries. One of these painters was Agustín Arrieta from Puebla, who applied realistic techniques to scenes from his home city, capturing its brightly painted tiles and ceramics. His scenes often involved everyday life such as women working in kitchen and depicted black and Afro-Mexican vendors.[57]

In the mid-to late 19th century Latin American academies began to shift away from severe Neoclassicism to “academic realism”. Idealized and simplified depictions became more realistic, with emphasis on details. Scenes in this style were most often portraits of the upper classes, Biblical scenes, and battles—especially those from the Independence period. When the Academy of San Carlos was reopened after a short closure in 1843, its new Spanish and Italian faculty pushed this realist style. Despite government support and nationalist themes, native artists were generally shorted in favor of Europeans.[58]

One of the most important painters in Mexico in the mid 19th century was Catalan Pelegrí Clavé, who painted landscapes but was best known for his depictions of the intellectual elite of Mexico City. Realist painters also attempted to portray Aztec culture and people by depicting settings inhabited by indigenous people, using live indigenous models and costumes based on those in Conquest era codices. One of these was Félix Parra, whose depictions of the conquest empathized with the suffering of the indigenous. In 1869, José Obregón painted The Discovery of Pulque; he based his depictions of architecture on Mixtec codices, but misrepresented temples as a setting for a throne.[58]

The art of the 19th century after Independence is considered to have declined, especially during the late 19th century and early 20th, during the regime of Porfirio Díaz (1876–1911). Although during this time, painting, sculpture, and the decorative arts were often limited to imitation of European styles,[59] the emergence of young artists, such as Diego Rivera and Saturnino Herrán, increased the focus on Mexican-themed works. This meant that following the military phase of the Mexican Revolution in the 1920s, Mexican artists made huge strides is forging a robust artistic nationalism.

In this century there are examples of murals such as folkloric style created between 1855 and 1867 in La Barca, Jalisco.[60]

Highlights at this time: Pelegrín Clavé, Juan Cordero, Felipe Santiago Gutiérrez and José Agustín Arrieta.
In Mexico, in 1846 he was hired to direct Pelegrín Clavé's reopening of the Academy of San Carlos, a body from which he promoted the historical and landscaping themes with a pro-European vision.[61]

The Academy of San Carlos continued to advocate classic, European-style training until 1913. In this year, the academy was partially integrated with National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). Between 1929 and the 1950s, the academy’s architecture program was split off as a department of the university; the programs in painting, sculpture, and engraving were renamed the National School of Expressive Arts, now the Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas (ENAP). Both moved to the south of the city in the mid-20th century, to Ciudad Universitaria and Xochimilco respectively, leaving only some graduate programs in fine arts in the original academy building in the historic center. ENAP remains one of the main centers for the training of Mexico’s artists.[50]

While a shift to more indigenous and Mexican themes appeared in the 19th century, the Mexican Revolution from 1910 to 1920 had a dramatic effect on Mexican art.[50][53] The conflict resulted in the rise of the Partido Revolucionario Nacional (renamed the Partido Revolucionario Institucional), which took the country in a socialist direction. The government became an ally to many of the intellectuals and artists in Mexico City[33][38] and commissioned murals for public buildings to reinforce its political messages including those that emphasized Mexican rather than European themes. These were not created for popular or commercial tastes; however, they gained recognition not only in Mexico, but in the United States.[62]

This production of art in conjunction with government propaganda is known as the Mexican Modernist School or the Mexican Muralist Movement, and it redefined art in Mexico.[63] Octavio Paz gives José Vasconcelos credit for initiating the Muralist movement in Mexico by commissioning the best-known painters in 1921 to decorate the walls of public buildings. The commissions were politically motivated—they aimed to glorify the Mexican Revolution and redefine the Mexican people vis-à-vis their indigenous and Spanish past.[64]

The first protagonist in the production of modern murals in Mexico was Dr. Atl. Dr Atl was born “Gerard Murillo” in Guadalajara in 1875. He changed his name in order to identify himself as Mexican. Atl worked to promote Mexico’s folk art and handcrafts. While he had some success as a painter in Guadalajara, his radical ideas against academia and the government prompted him to move to more liberal Mexico City. In 1910, months before the start of the Mexican Revolution, Atl painted the first modern mural in Mexico. He taught major artists to follow him, including those who came to dominate Mexican mural painting.[59]

The muralist movement reached its height in the 1930s with four main protagonists: Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Siqueiros, José Clemente Orozco, and Fernando Leal. It is the most studied part of Mexico’s art history.[33][38][67] All were artists trained in classical European techniques and many of their early works are imitations of then-fashionable European paintings styles, some of which were adapted to Mexican themes.[1][63] The political situation in Mexico from the 1920s to 1950s and the influence of Dr. Atl prompted these artists to break with European traditions, using bold indigenous images, lots of color, and depictions of human activity, especially of the masses, in contrast to the solemn and detached art of Europe.[33]

Preferred mediums generally excluded traditional canvases and church porticos and instead were the large, then-undecorated walls of Mexico’s government buildings. The main goal in many of these paintings was the glorification of Mexico’s pre-Hispanic past as a definition of Mexican identity.[33] They had success in both Mexico and the United States, which brought them fame and wealth as well as Mexican and American students.[62]

These muralists revived the fresco technique for their mural work, although Siqueiros moved to industrial techniques and materials such as the application of pyroxilin, a commercial enamel used for airplanes and automobiles.[33] One of Rivera’s earliest mural efforts emblazoned the courtyard of the Ministry of Education with a series of dancing tehuanas (natives of Tehuantepec in southern Mexico). This four-year project went on to incorporate other contemporary indigenous themes, and it eventually encompassed 124 frescoes that extended three stories high and two city blocks long.[33] The Abelardo Rodriguez Market was painted in 1933 by students of Diego Rivera, one of whom was Isamu Noguchi.[68]

Another important figure of this time period was Frida Kahlo, the wife of Diego Rivera. While she painted canvases instead of murals, she is still considered part of the Mexican Modernist School as her work emphasized Mexican folk culture and colors.[33][69]

Despite maintaining an active national art scene, Mexican artists after the muralist period had a difficult time breaking into the international art market. One reason for this is that in the Americas, Mexico City was replaced by New York as the center of the art community, especially for patronage.[70] Within Mexico, government sponsorship of art in the 20th century (dominated until 2000 by the PRI party) meant religious themes and criticism of the government were effectively censored. This was mostly passive, with the government giving grants to artists who conformed to their requirements.[71]

The first to break with the nationalistic and political tone of the muralist movement was Rufino Tamayo. For this reason he was first appreciated outside of Mexico.[72] Tamayo was a contemporary to Rivera, Siqueiros, and Orozco, and trained at the Escuela Nacional de Bellas Artes. Like them he explored Mexican identity in his work after the Mexican Revolution. However, he rejected the political Social Realism popularized by the three other artists and was rejected by the new establishment.[73]

He left for New York in 1926 where success allowed him to exhibit in his native Mexico. His lack of support for the post-Revolutionary government was controversial. Because of this he mostly remained in New York, continuing with his success there and later in Europe. His rivalry with the main three Mexican muralists continued both in Mexico and internationally through the 1950s. Even a belated honorific of “The Fourth Great One” was controversial.[73]

In the 1940s, Wolfgang Paalen published the extremely influential DYN magazine in Mexico City, which focussed on a transitional movement between surrealism to abstract expressionism.

The first major movement after the muralists was the Rupture Movement, which began in the 1950s and 1960s with painters such as José Luis Cuevas, Gilberto Navarro, Rafael Coronel, Alfredo Casaneda, and sculptor Juan Soriano. They rejected social realism and nationalism and incorporated surrealism, visual paradoxes, and elements of Old World painting styles.[69][74] This break meant that later Mexican artists were generally not influenced by muralism or by Mexican folk art.[69]

José Luis Cuevas created self-portraits in which he reconstructed scenes from famous paintings by Spanish artists such as Diego Velázquez, Francisco de Goya, and Picasso. Like Kahlo before him, he drew himself but instead of being centered, his image is often to the side, as an observer. The goal was to emphasize the transformation of received visual culture.[75]

Another important figure during this time period was Swiss-Mexican Gunther Gerzso, but his work was a “hard-edged variant”[This quote needs a citation] of Abstract Expressionism, based on clearly defined geometric forms as well as colors, with an effect that makes them look like low relief. His work was a mix of European abstraction and Latin American influences, including Mesoamerican ones.[75][76] In the watercolor field we can distinguish Edgardo Coghlan and Ignacio Barrios who were not aligned to a specific artistic movement but were not less important.

"Designed by Mathias Goeritz, a series of sculptures ... [lined] the "Route of Friendship" (Ruta de la Amistad) in celebration of the Olympics ... In contestation to the government-sanctioned artistic exhibition for the Olympics, a group of diverse, independent visual artists organize a counterpresentation entitled Salón Independiente, or Independent Salon; the exhibition signifies a key event in the resistance by artists of state-controlled cultural policies. This show of antigovernment efforts by artists would also be expressed in a mural in support of student movement's protests; the work became known as the Mural Efímero (or Ephemeral Mural)" at UNAM".[77]

The third Independent Salon was staged in 1970. In 1976 "Fernando Gambao spearheads the organization of an exposition of abstract art entitled El Geometrismo Mexicano Una Tendencia Actual".[78]

In the mid-1980s, the next major movement in Mexico was Neomexicanismo, a slightly surreal, somewhat kitsch and postmodern version of Social Realism that focused on popular culture rather than history.[33] The name neomexicanismo was originally used by critics to belittle the movement.[citation needed] Works were not necessarily murals: they used other mediums such as collage and often parodied and allegorized cultural icons, mass media, religion, and other aspects of Mexican culture. This generation of artists were interested in traditional Mexican values and exploring their roots—often questioning or subverting them. Another common theme was Mexican culture vis-à-vis globalization.[82]

Art from the 1990s to the present is roughly categorized as Postmodern, although this term has been used to describe works created before the 1990s. Major artists associated with this label include Betsabee Romero,[83]Monica Castillo, Francisco Larios,[69] Martha Chapa and Diego Toledo.[74]

Centro Cultural Arte Contemporáneo opened in Mexico City in 1986, now defunct. "In 1998 ... with the sudden death of its chief executive, Televisa closed ... [the gallery] for a time, as the turnover in the company coincided with a drastic drop in the company's profitability".
[85] [Parts of the] collection have since been exhibited at "different museums, requiring its own space": at Tamayo Museum in 2001, at the Fine Arts Palace Museum[86] ... in 2002; and at MUNAL in 2003.[87]

In 1994, the foundation behind Colección Jumex and its collection of contemporary art, was established; it's located in the industrial outskirts of Mexico City.[88]

Octavio Mercado said in 2012 that the activity of art criticism still can be found in specialized magazines and nationally disseminated newspapers; furthermore, a new generation of art critics include Daniela Wolf, Ana Elena Mallet, Gabriella Gómez-Mont, and Pablo Helguera.
[90] (Prior to that, claims were made in 2004, that a deficit of native writing about Mexican art, symbolism, and trends, resulted in modern Mexican art shown abroad having been mislabeled or poorly described, as foreign institutions do not sufficiently understand or appreciate the political and social circumstances behind the pieces.[91])

The great Mexican muralists of the post-revolution developed, with the paint mural, the concept of "public art", an art to be seen by Ias masses in major public buildings of the time, and could not be bought and transported easily elsewhere, as with easel painting.[94]

Mexican artist creating an ephemeral work of street art in chalk on the streets of the Historical Center of Mexico City

Just like many other parts in the world, Mexico has adopted some modern techniques like with the existence of street artists depicting popular paintings from Mexico throughout history or original content.

Mexican handcrafts and folk art, called artesanía in Mexico, is a complex category of items made by hand or in small workshops for utilitarian, decorative, or other purposes. These include ceramics, wall hangings, certain types of paintings, and textiles.[96] Like the more formal arts, artesanía has both indigenous and European roots and is considered a valued part of Mexico’s ethnic heritage.[97]

This linking among the arts and cultural identity was most strongly forged by the country’s political, intellectual, and artistic elite in the first half of the 20th century, after the Mexican Revolution.[97] Artists such as Diego Rivera, Rufino Tamayo, and Frida Kahlo used artesanía as inspiration for a number of their murals and other works.[97] Unlike the fine arts, artesanía is created by common people and those of indigenous heritage, who learn their craft through formal or informal apprenticeship.[96] The linking of artesanía and Mexican identity continues through television, movies, and tourism promotion.[98]

Most of the artesanía produced in Mexico consists of ordinary things made for daily use. They are considered artistic because they contain decorative details or are painted in bright colors, or both.[96] The bold use of colors in crafts and other constructions extends back to pre-Hispanic times. These were joined by other colors introduced by European and Asian contact, always in bold tones.[99]

Design motifs vary from purely indigenous to mostly European with other elements thrown in. Geometric designs connected to Mexico’s pre-Hispanic past are prevalent, and items made by the country’s remaining purely indigenous communities.[100] Motifs from nature are popular, possibly more so than geometric patterns in both pre-Hispanic and European designs. They are especially prevalent in wall-hangings and ceramics.[101]

One of the best of Mexico’s handcrafts is Talavera pottery produced in Puebla.[38] It has a mix of Chinese, Arab, Spanish, and indigenous design influences.[102] The best known folk paintings are the ex-voto or retablovotive paintings. These are small commemorative paintings or other artwork created by a believer, honoring the intervention of a saint or other figure. The untrained style of ex-voto painting was appropriated during the mid-20th century by Kahlo, who believed they were the most authentic expression of Latin American art.[103]

The first sound film in Mexico was made in 1931, called Desde Santa. The first Mexican film genre appeared between 1920 and 1940, called ranchero.[106]

While Mexico’s Golden Age of Cinema is regarded as the 1940s and 1950s, two films from the mid to late 1930s, Allá en el Rancho Grande (1936) and Vamanos con Pancho Villa (1935), set the standard of this age thematically, aesthetically, and ideologically. These films featured archetypal star figures and symbols based on broad national mythologies. Some of the mythology according to Carlos Monsiváis, includes the participants in family melodramas, the masculine charros of ranchero films, femme fatales (often played by María Félix and Dolores del Río), the indigenous peoples of Emilio Fernández’s films, and Cantinflas’s peladito (urban miscreant).[107]

Settings were often ranches, the battlefields of the Revolution, and cabarets. Movies about the Mexican Revolution focused on the initial overthrow of the Porfirio Díaz government rather than the fighting among the various factions afterwards. They also tended to focus on rural themes as “Mexican”, even though the population was increasingly urban.[107]

In the 1930s, the government became interested in the industry in order to promote cultural and political values. Much of the production during the Golden Age was financed with a mix of public and private money, with the government eventually taking a larger role. In 1942 the Banco Cinematográfico financed almost all of the industry, coming under government control by 1947. This gave the government extensive censorship rights through deciding which projects to finance.[107] While the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) censored films in many ways in the 1940s and 1950s, it was not as repressive as other Spanish speaking countries, but it played a strong role in how Mexico’s government and culture was portrayed.[107][109]

The Golden Age ended in the late 1950s, with the 1960s dominated by poorly made imitations of Hollywood westerns and comedies. These films were increasingly shot outdoors and popular films featured stars from lucha libre. Art and experimental film production in Mexico has its roots in the same period, which began to bear fruit in the 1970s.[106][109] Director Paul Leduc surfaced in the 1970s, specializing in films without dialogue. His first major success was with Reed: Insurgent Mexico (1971) followed by a biography of Frida Kahlo called Frida (1984). He is the most consistently political of modern Mexican directors. In the 1990s, he filmed Latino Bar (1991) and Dollar Mambo (1993). His silent films generally have not had commercial success.[109]

In the late 20th century the main proponent of Mexican art cinema was Arturo Ripstein Jr.. His career began with a spaghetti Western-like film called Tiempo de morir in 1965 and who some consider the successor to Luis Buñuel who worked in Mexico in the 1940s. Some of his classic films include El Castillo de la pureza (1973), Lugar sin limites (1977) and La reina de la noche (1994) exploring topics such as family ties and even homosexuality, dealing in cruelty, irony, and tragedy.[109]
State censorship was relatively lax in the 1960s and early 1970s, but came back during the latter 1970s and 1980s, monopolizing production and distribution.[106]

Another factor was that many Mexican film making facilities were taken over by Hollywood production companies in the 1980s, crowding out local production.[109] The quality of films was so diminished that for some of these years,[which?]Mexico’s Ariel film award was suspended for lack of qualifying candidates.[106] Popular filmmaking decreased but the art sector grew, sometimes producing works outside the view of censors such as Jorge Fons’ 1989 film Rojo Amanecer on the 1968 Tlatelolco massacre. The movie was banned by the government but received support in Mexico and abroad. The film was shown although not widely.[further explanation needed] It was the beginning of more editorial freedom for filmmakers in Mexico.[109]

Starting in the 1990s, Mexican cinema began to make a comeback, mostly through co-production with foreign interests. One reason for international interest in Mexican cinema was the wild success of the 1992 film Como Agua Para Chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate).[106][109] In 1993, this film was the largest grossing foreign language film in U.S. history and ran in a total of 34 countries.[108] Since then, Mexican film divided into two genres. Those for a more domestic audience tend to be more personal and more ambiguously political such as Pueblo de Madera, La Vida Conjugal, and Angel de fuego. Those geared for international audiences have more stereotypical Mexican images and include Solo con tu Pareja, La Invencion de Cronos along with Como Agua para Chocolate.[108][109]

Photography came to Mexico in the form of daguerreotype about six months after its discovery, and it spread quickly. It was initially used for portraits of the wealthy (because of its high cost), and for shooting landscapes and pre-Hispanic ruins.[110] Another relatively common type of early photographic portraits were those of recently deceased children, called little angels, which persisted into the first half of the 20th century. This custom derived from a Catholic tradition of celebrating a dead child’s immediate acceptance into heaven, bypassing purgatory. This photography replaced the practice of making drawings and other depictions of them as this was considered a “happy occasion.”[111] Formal portraits were the most common form of commercial photography through the end of the 19th century.[110]

Modern photography in Mexico did not begin as an art form, but rather as documentation, associated with periodicals and government projects. It dates to the Porfirio Díaz period of rule, or the Porfiriato, from the late 19th century to 1910.[112][113] Porfirian-era photography was heavily inclined toward the presentation of the nation’s modernization to the rest of the world, with Mexico City as its cultural showpiece. This image was European-based with some indigenous elements for distinction.[114]

Stylized images of the indigenous during the Porfirato were principally done by Ybañez y Sora in the costumbrista painting style, which was popular outside of Mexico.[110] The most important Porfirian era photographer was Guillermo Kahlo, who worked with associate Hugo Brehme.[110] Kahlo established his own studio in the first decade of the 1900s and was hired by businesses and the government to document architecture, interiors, landscapes, and factories.[115]

Kahlo’s style reflected the narratives of the period, solely focusing on major constructions and events, and avoiding the common populace.[116] It avoided subjects that hinted at the political instability of the country at the time, such as strike actions.[117] One major Kahlo project was the Photographic Inventory of Spanish Colonial Church Architecture in Mexico (1910), which consisted of twenty five albums sponsored by the federal government to document the remaining colonial architecture.[118] Kahlo’s photography was used to link Mexico’s past to its progress with political and social power provided in symbols and ideals, as well to link the government’s aspirations with its colonial and pre-Hispanic past.[clarification needed][119]

Another pioneer of Mexican photography was Agustín Victor Casasola. Like Kahlo, he began his career in the Porfirato, but his career was focused on photography for periodicals. Again like Kahlo, Casasola’s work prior to the Mexican Revolution focused on non-controversial photographs, focusing on the lives of the elite. The outbreak of civil war caused Casasola’s choice of subject to change. He began to focus not only on portraits of the main protagonists (such as Francisco Villa) and general battle scenes, but on executions and the dead. He focused on people whose faces showed such expressions as pain, kindness, and resignation.[112]

His work during this time produced a large collection of photographs, many of which are familiar to Mexicans as they have been widely reprinted and reused, often without credit to Casasola. After the war, Casasola continued to photograph common people, especially migrants to Mexico City during the 1920s and 1930s. His total known archives comprise about half a million images with many of his works archived in the former monastery of San Francisco in Pachuca.[112]

Kahlo and Casasola are considered the two most important photographers to develop the medium in Mexico, with Kahlo defining architectural photography and Casasolas establishing photojournalism. Neither man thought of himself as an artist—especially not Casasolas—who thought of himself as a historian in the Positivist tradition, but the photography of both show attention to detail, lighting, and placement of subjects for emotional or dramatic effect.[120][121]

For the rest of the 20th century, most photography was connected to documentation. However, artistic trends from both inside and outside the country had an effect. In the 1920s, the dominant photographic style was Pictorialism, in which images had a romantic or dream-like quality due to the use of filters and other techniques. American Edward Weston broke with this tradition, taking these effects away for more realistic and detailed images.[112][122] This caused a split in the photography world between Pictorialists and Realists both inside and outside of Mexico.[112]

Weston and his Italian assistant Tina Modotti were in Mexico from 1923 to 1926, allying themselves with Mexican Realist photographers Manuel Álvarez Bravo as well as muralists such as Gabriel Fernández Ledesma. These photographers' political and social aspirations matched those of the muralist movement and the new post-Revolution government.[112][120][123]Mariana Yampolsky, originally from the U.S., became an important photographer in Mexico. Photography and other arts shifted to depictions of the country’s indigenous heritage and the glorification of the Mexican common people.[120] This was mainly to reject the elitist and heavily European values of the Porfiriato, along with the increasing cultural influence of the United States in favor of an “authentic” and distinct Mexican identity.[124] Another was the government’s decision to use this imagery, rather than the still-fresh memories of the battles and atrocities of the Revolution to promote itself.[125]

Manuel Alvarez Bravo experimented with abstraction in his photography and formed his own personal style concerned with Mexican rites and customs. He was active from the 1920s until his death in the 1990s. Like other artists of the 20th century, he was concerned with balancing international artistic trends with the expression of Mexican culture and people. His photographic techniques were concerned with transforming the ordinary into the fantastic. From the end of the 1930s to the 1970s his photography developed along with new technologies such as color, using the same themes. In the 1970s, he experimented with female nudes.[126]

These post-Revolution photographers influenced the generations after them, but the emphasis remained on documentary journalism, especially for newspapers. For this reason, the focus remained on social issues. This included work by Nacho López and Hector Garcia, best known for their photography of the student uprising of 1968.[110]

During the 1970s, a fusion of various styles retained a social focus.[110] During the same period, institutions were established that dedicated themselves to the promotion of photography and conservation of photographs, such as the Centro de la Imagen, the Fototeca Nacional del INAH, and the publication Luna Córnea.[127]

Photography in Mexico from the latter 20th century on remains mostly focused on photojournalism and other kinds of documentary. Francisco Mata de Rosas is considered the most notable photographer in contemporary Mexico mostly working with documentaries.[according to whom?] He has published a number of books including México Tenochtitlan and Tepito, Bravo el Barrio. Eniac Martínez specializes in panoramas. Patricia Aridjis works with social themes, mostly to illustrate books. Gerardo Montiel Klint’s work has been described as a “shadowing and dark world”, focusing on the angst and violence of adolescents.[127] The most recent generation of photographers work with new and digital technologies. One of these is Javier Orozco who specializes in interiors.[110]

However, purely artistic photography has had an impact. In 2002, a photographic exhibit by Daniela Rossell featured images of Mexican multimillionaires posing in their ostentatious homes, filled with expensive paintings, hunting trophies, crystal chandeliers, gold lamé wallpaper, and household help. The photographs set off a wave of social criticism as well as tabloid gossip.[128]

Paxton, Merideth and Leticia Staines Cicero, eds. Constructing Power and Place in Mesoamerica: Pre-Hispanic Paintings from Three Regions. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press 2017. ISBN978-0-8263-5906-3

Townsend, Richard F. State and Cosmos in the Art of Tenochtitlan. Studies in Pre-Columbian Art and Archeology 20. Washington D.C., Dumbarton Oaks 1979.

^"Painted in Mexico, 1700–1790: Pinxit Mexici". www.metmuseum.org. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. This expression eloquently encapsulates the painters' pride in their own tradition and their connection to larger, transatlantic trends.

^Marino, Daniela (Summer 1997). "Prayer for a sleeping child: Iconography of the funeral ritual of little angels in Mexico". The Journal of American Culture. 20 (2): 37–49. doi:10.1111/j.1542-734x.1997.2002_37.x.

1.
Architecture of Mexico
–
Many of Mexicos older architectural structures, including entire sections of Pre-Hispanic and colonial cities, have been designated World Heritage sites for their historical and artistic significance. The country has the largest number of sites declared World Heritage Sites by UNESCO in the Americas, important archaeological finds of the remains of structures built by the indigenous peoples of Mexico have been made in the country. The native name of this city founded by the Zapotecs in the late Preclassic is still the subject of discussion, according to some sources, the original name was Dani Baá. It is known, however, that the local Mixtec called the city Yuku kúi in their language, like most of the great Mesoamerican cities, Monte Albán was a city with a multi-ethnic population. Throughout its history, the city maintained strong ties to other peoples in Mesoamerica, the city was abandoned by the social elite and much of the rest of its population at the end of Phase Xoo. However, the enclosure that constitutes the complex of the archeological site of Monte Albán was reused by the Mixtec during the Postclassic period. By this time, the Zapotec peoples political power was divided among various city-states, including Zaachila, Yagul, Lambityeco and Tehuantepec. The Maya appear to have founded Lakam Ha about 100 B. C. during the Formative period, predominantly as a farmers village favored by the numerous springs and streams nearby. The population of Lakam Ha grew during the Early Classic period as it became a city, during the Late Classic period it was made the capital of the Bakaal region in Chiapas. The oldest of the structures that have been discovered were built around the year 600, Bakaal was an important center of Mayan civilization between the 5th and 9th centuries, during which it formed various, shifting alliances, and fought numerous wars with its enemies. On more than one occasion it made an alliance with Tikal, Calakmul won two of these wars, in 599 and 611. C. Modern archaeological theories speculate that the first dynasty of their rulers was probably of Olmec ethnicity, during the Tollan phase, the city reached its greatest extent and population. Some authors estimate the area of Tollan-Xicocotitlan at the time was between 5 and 16 km², with a population of between 16,000 and 55,000 people. Teotihuacan was listed as a World Heritage Site by Unesco in 1987 and it is known that it was a cosmopolitan place, however, by the documented presence of groups from the Gulf coast or the Central Valleys of Oaxaca. Located in the town of the same name, Tzintzuntzan was the ceremonial center of the pre-Columbian Tarascan state capital. Its ruins are situated on an artificial platform excavated into the Yahuarato hillside. There, five rounded pyramids called Yácatas face the lake, the site has a small archaeological museum. The buildings of Chichen Itza show a number of architectural

2.
Latin American art
–
Latin American art is the combined artistic expression of South America, Central America, the Caribbean, and Mexico, as well as Latin Americans living in other regions. The art has roots in the different indigenous cultures that inhabited the Americas Uranus European colonization in the 16th century. The indigenous cultures each developed sophisticated artistic disciplines, which were influenced by religious. Their work is known and referred to as Pre-columbian art. The blending of Native American, African and European cultures has resulted in a unique mestizo tradition, during the colonial period, a mixture of indigenous traditions and European influences produced a very particular Christian art known as Indochristian art. In addition to art, the development of Latin American visual art was significantly influenced by Spanish, Portuguese. In turn Baroque painting was influenced by the Italian masters. Gillis van van Schendel the younger, active 17 Jh.119 x 99 cm The Cuzco School is viewed as the first center of European-style painting in the Americas. In the 17th and 18th centuries, Spanish art instructors taught Quechua artists to paint religious imagery based on classical, in eighteenth-century New Spain, Mexican artists along with a few Spanish artists produced paintings of a system of racial hierarchy, known as casta paintings. It was almost exclusively a Mexican form however, one set was produced in Peru, in a break from religious paintings of the preceding centuries, casta paintings were a secular art form. Only one known painting by a relatively unknown painter, Luis de Mena, combines castas with Mexicos Virgin of Guadalupe. Some of Mexicos most distinguished artists painted works, including Miguel Cabrera. Most casta paintings were on multiple canvases, with one family grouping on each, there were a handful of single canvas paintings, showing the entire racial hierarchy. The paintings show idealized family groupings, with the father being of one racial, the mother of another racial category and this genre of painting flourished for about a century, coming to an end with Mexican independence in 1821, and the abolition of legal racial categories. In the seventeenth century, The Netherlands had captured the rich sugar-producing area of the Portuguese colony of Brazil, during that period, Dutch artist Albert Eckhout painted a number of important depictions of social types in Brazil. These depictions included images of men and women, as well as still lifes. Scientific expeditions approved by the Spanish crown began exploring Spanish America where its flora, local artists were Ecuadorean Indians, who produced five thousand color drawings of nature, all being published. The crown chartered expedition whose purpose was scientific recording of the natural beauty, the most important scientific expedition was that of Alexander von Humboldt and French botantist Aimé Bonpland

3.
Diego Rivera
–
Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the Mexican mural movement in Mexican art, between 1922 and 1953, Rivera painted murals among others in Mexico City, Chapingo, Cuernavaca, San Francisco, Detroit, and New York City. In 1931, a exhibition of his works was held at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Rivera had a marriage with fellow Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Rivera was born in Guanajuato, Mexico, to a well-to-do family, Diego had a twin brother named Carlos, who died two years after they were born. Rivera was said to have Converso ancestry, Rivera wrote in 1935, My Jewishness is the dominant element in my life. Rivera began drawing at the age of three, a year after his brothers death. He had been drawing on the walls. His parents, rather than punishing him, installed chalkboards and canvas on the walls, as an adult, he married Angelina Beloff in 1911, and she gave birth to a son, Diego. Maria Vorobieff-Stebelska gave birth to a daughter named Marika in 1918 or 1919 when Rivera was married to Angelina and he married his second wife, Guadalupe Marín, in June 1922, with whom he had two daughters, Ruth and Guadalupe. He was still married when he met art student Frida Kahlo and they married on August 21,1929 when he was 42 and she was 22. Their mutual infidelities and his violent temper led to divorce in 1939, Rivera later married Emma Hurtado, his agent since 1946, on July 29,1955, one year after Kahlos death. His mural Dreams of a Sunday in the Alameda depicted Ignacio Ramírez holding a sign which read and this work caused a furor, but Rivera refused to remove the inscription. The painting was not shown for nine years – until Rivera agreed to remove the inscription. He stated, To affirm God does not exist, I do not have to hide behind Don Ignacio Ramírez, I am an atheist, from the age of ten, Rivera studied art at the Academy of San Carlos in Mexico City. He was sponsored to study in Europe by Teodoro A. Dehesa Méndez. In those years, Paris was witnessing the beginning of Cubism in paintings by such eminent painters as Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, from 1913 to 1917, Rivera enthusiastically embraced this new school of art. Around 1917, inspired by Paul Cézannes paintings, Rivera shifted toward Post-Impressionism with simple forms and his paintings began to attract attention, and he was able to display them at several exhibitions

4.
National Palace (Mexico)
–
The National Palace is the seat of the federal executive in Mexico. It is located on Mexico Citys main square, the Plaza de la Constitución and this site has been a palace for the ruling class of Mexico since the Aztec empire, and much of the current palaces building materials are from the original one that belonged to Moctezuma II. Used and classified as a Government Building, the National Palace, with its red tezontle facade, fills the entire east side of the Zócalo and it is home to some of the offices of both the Federal Treasury and the National Archives. The facade is bordered on the north and south by two towers and include three main doorways, each of which lead to a different part of the building, the southern door leads to the Patio of Honor and presidential offices. The northern door is known as the Mariana Door, named in honor of Mariano Arista who had it constructed in 1850, the area next to this door used to be the old Court Prison, with courtrooms and torture chambers. It is now occupied by the Finance Ministry and it contains the Treasury Room, constructed by architects Manuel Ortiz Monasterio and Vicente Mendiola. The iron and bronze door is the work of Augusto Petriccioli, part of this ceremony includes ringing the bell that hangs above the balcony. This bell is the one that Father Miguel Hidalgo rang to call for rebellion against Spain. It originally hung in the church of Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, in the niche containing the bell, there is the Mexican coat of arms. On each side there is an Aztec eagle knight and his Spanish counterpart and these were sculpted by Manuel Centurion and symbolize the synthesis of Mexican culture and Spanish culture. The central door leads to the patio which is surrounded by Baroque arches. Only the balustrade of this area has been remodeled, conserving the murals by Diego Rivera that adorn the main stairwell, in the stairwell is a mural depicting the The History of Mexico from 1521 to 1930, and covers an area of 450 m2. These murals were painted between 1929 and 1935, jointly titled The Epic of the Mexican People, the work is divided like a triptych with each being somewhat autonomous. The right-hand wall contains murals depicting pre-Hispanic Mexico and centers around the life of the Aztec god Quetzalcóatl, Quetzalcóatl appears in the mural as a star, a god, and a human being. Created by serpents, he sails through space as a star that accompanies the sun at night, Quetzalcóatl then assumes a human body to teach the Aztec people as their king and patriarch. Last, when he sacrifices his blood to give life to men, once he leaves the earth, Quetzalcóatl assumes the shape the morning star, called Tlahuizcalpantecuhtli. The cycle that he undergoes signifies the cycle of life. Riveras creation of a Mexican identity helps to continue the reform began with the Mexican Revolution of 1910

5.
Visual arts
–
The visual arts are art forms such as ceramics, drawing, painting, sculpture, printmaking, design, crafts, photography, video, filmmaking, literature, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines involve aspects of the arts as well as arts of other types. Also included within the arts are the applied arts such as industrial design, graphic design, fashion design, interior design. Current usage of the visual arts includes fine art as well as the applied, decorative arts and crafts. The distinction was emphasized by artists of the Arts and Crafts Movement, Art schools made a distinction between the fine arts and the crafts, maintaining that a craftsperson could not be considered a practitioner of the arts. The increasing tendency to painting, and to a lesser degree sculpture. The Western hierarchy of genres reflected similar attitudes, training in the visual arts has generally been through variations of the apprentice and workshop systems. Visual arts have now become a subject in most education systems. Drawing is a means of making an image, using any of a variety of tools. Digital tools that simulate the effects of these are also used, the main techniques used in drawing are, line drawing, hatching, crosshatching, random hatching, scribbling, stippling, and blending. An artist who excels in drawing is referred to as a draftsman or draughtsman, drawing goes back at least 16,000 years to Paleolithic cave representations of animals such as those at Lascaux in France and Altamira in Spain. In ancient Egypt, ink drawings on papyrus, often depicting people, were used as models for painting or sculpture, drawings on Greek vases, initially geometric, later developed to the human form with black-figure pottery during the 7th century BC. Painting taken literally is the practice of applying pigment suspended in a carrier, like drawing, painting has its documented origins in caves and on rock faces. The finest examples, believed by some to be 32,000 years old, are in the Chauvet, in shades of red, brown, yellow and black, the paintings on the walls and ceilings are of bison, cattle, horses and deer. Paintings of human figures can be found in the tombs of ancient Egypt, in the great temple of Ramses II, Nefertari, his queen, is depicted being led by Isis. The Greeks contributed to painting but much of their work has been lost, one of the best remaining representations are the hellenistic Fayum mummy portraits. Another example is mosaic of the Battle of Issus at Pompeii, Greek and Roman art contributed to Byzantine art in the 4th century BC, which initiated a tradition in icon painting. Apart from the manuscripts produced by monks during the Middle Ages

6.
History of Mexico
–
The history of Mexico, a country in the southern portion of North America, covers a period of more than three millennia. First populated more than 13,000 years ago, the territory had complex indigenous civilizations before being conquered and colonized by the Spanish in the 16th century and this era before the arrival of Europeans is called variously the prehispanic era or the precolumbian era. The Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan became the Spanish capital Mexico City, from 1521, the Spanish conquest of the Aztec empire incorporated the region into the Spanish Empire, with New Spain its colonial era name and Mexico City the center of colonial rule. It was built on the ruins of the Aztec capital of Tenochtitlan, during the colonial era, Mexicos long-established Mesoamerican civilizations mixed with European culture. For three centuries Mexico was part of the Spanish Empire, whose legacy is a country with a Spanish-speaking, Catholic, after a protracted struggle for independence, New Spain became the sovereign nation of Mexico, with the signing of the Treaty of Córdoba. A brief period of monarchy, called the First Mexican Empire, was followed by the founding of the Republic of Mexico, legal racial categories were eliminated, abolishing the system of castas. Slavery was not abolished at independence in 1821 or with the constitution in 1824, Mexico continues to be constituted as a federated republic, under the Mexican Constitution of 1917. The Age of Santa Anna is the period of the late 1820s to the early 1850s that was dominated by criollo military-man-turned-president Antonio López de Santa Anna. In 1846, the Mexican–American War was provoked by the United States, even though Santa Anna bore significant responsibility for the disastrous defeat, he returned to office. The Liberal Reform began with the overthrow of Santa Anna by Mexican liberals, the Reform sparked a civil war between liberals defending the constitution and conservatives, who opposed it. The US was engaged in its own Civil War, so did not attempt to block the foreign intervention, abraham Lincoln consistently supported the Mexican liberals. At the end of the war in the US and the triumph of the Union forces. France withdrew its support of Maximilian in 1867 and his monarchist rule collapsed in 1867, with the end of the Second Mexican Empire, the period often called the Restored Republic brought back Benito Juárez as president. Following his death from an attack, Sebastian Lerdo de Tejada succeed him. He was overthrown by liberal military man Porfirio Diaz, who after consolidating power ushered in a period of stability, the half-century of economic stagnation and political chaos following independence ended. The Porfiriate is the era when army hero Porfirio Díaz held power as president of Mexico almost continuously from 1876-1911 and he promoted order and progress that saw the modernization of the economy and the flow of foreign investment to the country. The period is called the Porfiriato, which ended with the outbreak of the Mexican Revolution in 1910. Under Díaz, Mexicos industry and infrastructure were modernized by a strong, stable, increased tax revenues and better administration brought dramatic improvements in public safety, public health, railways, mining, industry, foreign trade, and national finances

7.
Mesoamerica
–
It is one of six areas in the world where ancient civilization arose independently, and the second in the Americas along with Norte Chico in present-day northern coastal Peru. As a cultural area, Mesoamerica is defined by a mosaic of cultural traits developed and shared by its indigenous cultures, while Mesoamerican civilization did know of the wheel and basic metallurgy, neither of these technologies became culturally important. Among the earliest complex civilizations was the Olmec culture, which inhabited the Gulf coast of Mexico and extended inland, frequent contact and cultural interchange between the early Olmec and other cultures in Chiapas, Guatemala and Oaxaca laid the basis for the Mesoamerican cultural area. All this was facilitated by considerable regional communications in ancient Mesoamerica and this Formative period saw the spread of distinct religious and symbolic traditions, as well as artistic and architectural complexes. In the subsequent Preclassic period, complex urban polities began to develop among the Maya, with the rise of such as El Mirador, Calakmul and Tikal. Mesoamerica is one of three regions of the world where writing is known to have independently developed. Upon the collapse of Teotihuacán around AD600, competition between several important political centers in central Mexico, such as Xochicalco and Cholula, ensued. During the early period, Central Mexico was dominated by the Toltec culture, Oaxaca by the Mixtec. Towards the end of the period, the Aztecs of Central Mexico built a tributary empire covering most of central Mesoamerica. The distinct Mesoamerican cultural tradition ended with the Spanish conquest in the 16th century, over the next centuries, Mesoamerican indigenous cultures were gradually subjected to Spanish colonial rule. The exact geographic extent of Mesoamerica has varied through time, as the civilization extended North and South from its heartland in southern Mexico, Mesoamerica is recognized as a near-prototypical cultural area, and the term is now fully integrated in the standard terminology of pre-Columbian anthropological studies. Conversely, the sister terms Aridoamerica and Oasisamerica, which refer to northern Mexico, 10° and 22° northern latitude, Mesoamerica possesses a complex combination of ecological systems, topographic zones, and environmental contexts. A main distinction groups these different niches into two categories, the lowlands and the altiplanos, or highlands. In the low-lying regions, sub-tropical and tropical climates are most common, as is true for most of the coastline along the Pacific and Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. The highlands show much more diversity, ranging from dry tropical to cold mountainous climates. The rainfall varies from the dry Oaxaca and north Yucatan to the humid southern Pacific, several distinct sub-regions within Mesoamerica are defined by a convergence of geographic and cultural attributes. These sub-regions are more conceptual than culturally meaningful, and the demarcation of their limits is not rigid, the Maya area, for example, can be divided into two general groups, the lowlands and highlands. The lowlands are further divided into the southern and northern Maya lowlands, the southern Maya lowlands are generally regarded as encompassing northern Guatemala, southern Campeche and Quintana Roo in Mexico, and Belize

8.
Mexican War of Independence
–
The Mexican War of Independence was an armed conflict, and the culmination of a political and social process which ended the rule of Spain in 1821 in the territory of New Spain. September 16 is celebrated as Mexican Independence Day, the movement for independence was inspired by the Age of Enlightenment and the liberal revolutions of the last part of the 18th century. By that time the elite of New Spain had begun to reflect on the relations between Spain and its colonial kingdoms. Changes in the social and political structure occasioned by Bourbon Reforms, political events in Europe had a decisive effect on events in most of Spanish America. In 1808, King Charles IV and Ferdinand VII abdicated in favor of French leader Napoleon Bonaparte, the same year, the ayuntamiento of Mexico City, supported by viceroy José de Iturrigaray, claimed sovereignty in the absence of the legitimate king. That led to a coup against the viceroy, when it was suppressed, despite the defeat in Mexico City, small groups of conspirators met in other cities of New Spain to raise movements against colonial rule. From 1810 the independence movement went through stages, as leaders were imprisoned or executed by forces loyal to Spain. Secular priest José María Morelos called the separatist provinces to form the Congress of Chilpancingo, after the defeat of Morelos, the movement survived as a guerrilla war under the leadership of Vicente Guerrero. By 1820, the few rebel groups survived most notably in the Sierra Madre del Sur, the reinstatement of the liberal Constitution of Cadiz in 1820 caused a change of mind among the elite groups who had supported Spanish rule. Monarchist Creoles affected by the constitution decided to support the independence of New Spain, agustín de Iturbide led the military arm of the conspirators and in early 1821 he met Vicente Guerrero. Both proclaimed the Plan of Iguala, which called for the union of all insurgent factions and was supported by both the aristocracy and clergy of New Spain and it called for monarchy in an independent Mexico. Finally, the independence of Mexico was achieved on September 27,1821, after that, the mainland of New Spain was organized as the Mexican Empire. This ephemeral Catholic monarchy changed to a republic in 1823, due to internal conflicts. After some Spanish reconquest attempts, including the expedition of Isidro Barradas in 1829, after the suppression of that mid-16th-century conspiracy, elites raised no substantial challenge to royal rule until the Hidalgo revolt of 1810. Elites in Mexico City in the century did force the removal of a reformist viceroy. The crowd was reported to shout, Long live the King, the attack was against Gelves as a bad representative of the crown and not against the monarchy or colonial rule itself. There was also a conspiracy in the mid-seventeenth century to unite creole elites, blacks. The man pushing this notion called himself Don Guillén Lampart y Guzmán, lamports conspiracy was discovered, and he was arrested by the Inquisition in 1642, and executed fifteen years later for sedition

9.
Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire
–
The Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire was one of the most significant events in the Spanish colonization of the Americas. Many of those on the Cortés expedition of 1519 had never seen combat before, in fact, Cortés had never commanded men in battle before. However, there was a generation of Spaniards who participated in expeditions in the Caribbean and Tierra Firme, learning strategy. The Spanish conquest of Mexico had antecedents with established practices, in their advance, the allies were tricked and ambushed several times by the people they encountered. When Cortés left Tenochtitlan to return to the coast and deal with the expedition of Pánfilo de Narváez, Alvarado allowed a significant Aztec feast to be celebrated in Tenochtitlan and on the pattern of the earlier massacre in Cholula, closed off the square and massacred the celebrating Aztec noblemen. The biography of Cortés by Francisco López de Gómara contains a description of the massacre, the Alvarado massacre at the Main Temple of Tenochtitlan precipitated rebellion by the population of the city. When the captured emperor Motecuhzoma II, now seen as a puppet of the invading Spaniards, attempted to calm the outraged populace. Cortés had returned to Tenochtitlan and his men fled the city during the Noche Triste in June,1520. The Spanish, Tlaxcalans and reinforcements returned a year later on August 13,1521 to a civilization that had wiped out by famine. This made it easier to conquer the remaining Aztecs, the fall of the Aztec Empire was the key event in the formation of the Spanish overseas empire, with New Spain, which later became Mexico, a major component. The Spanish conquerors could and did write accounts that narrated the conquest from the first landfalls in Mexico to the victory over the Mexica in Tenochtitlan on August 13,1521. Indigenous accounts are from particular native viewpoints and as the events had a impact on their polity. All accounts of the conquest, Spanish and indigenous alike, have biases, in general, Spanish accounts do not credit their indigenous allies support. Individual conquerors accounts exaggerate that individuals contribution to the conquest, downplaying other conquerors, indigenous allies accounts stress their loyalty to the Spanish and their particular aid as being key to the Spanish victory. Their accounts are similar to Spanish conquerors accounts contained in petitions for rewards and these were almost immediately published in Spain and later in other parts of Europe. Interestingly, Cortéss right-hand man, Pedro de Alvarado did not write at any length about his actions in the New World, two letters to Cortés about Alvarados campaigns in Guatemala are published in The Conquistadors. Rather than it being a petition for rewards for services, as many Spanish accounts were, the account was used by eighteenth-century Jesuit Francisco Javier Clavijero in his descriptions of the history of Mexico. On the indigenous side, the allies of Cortés, particularly the Tlaxcalans, wrote extensively about their services to the Spanish Crown in the conquest, the most important of these are the pictorial Lienzo de Tlaxcala and the Historia de Tlaxcala by Diego Muñoz Camargo

10.
Casta
–
A casta was a hierarchical system of race classification created by Spanish elites in Hispanic America during the eighteenth century. The process of mixing ancestries in the union of people of different races was known as mestizaje. Created by Hispanic elites, the sistema de castas or the sociedad de castas, was based on the principle that people varied largely due to their birth, color, race, the system of castas was more than socio-racial classification. It had an effect on every aspect of life, including economics, both the Spanish colonial state and the Church required more tax and tribute payments from those of lower socio-racial categories. The whiter the heritage a person could claim, the higher in status they could claim, conversely, Casta paintings were a new, secular art form primarily produced in eighteenth-century Mexico. A notable exception to the nature of the genre is Luis de Menas 1750 painting of Virgin of Guadalupe with castas. Casta is an Iberian word, meaning lineage, breed or race and it is derived from the older Latin word castus, chaste, implying that the lineage has been kept pure. Casta gave rise to the English word caste during the Early Modern Period, the idea of purity of blood, limpieza de sangre, developed in Christian Spain to denote those without the taint of Jewish or Muslim heritage. It was directly linked to religion and notions of legitimacy, lineage and it was institutionalized during the Inquisition. The Inquisition only allowed those Spaniards who could not to have Jewish and Moorish blood to emigrate to Latin America. Several spectacular autos de fe in New Spain in the mid-seventeenth century featured the public punishment of those convicted of being Judaizers. In Spanish America, the idea of purity of blood was in a complex fashion linked to ideas of race, Spaniards had become obsessed with lineage, following the expulsion of Moors and Jews, and forced conversion of those who chose to remain. Evidence of lack of purity of blood had consequences for marriage, eligibility for office, entrance into the priesthood, having to produce genealogical records to prove ones pure ancestry gave rise to a trade in the creation of false genealogies. When the concept of purity of blood was transferred overseas, it retained the concerns about tainted ancestry of Jews or Muslims in a family line. During the early decades, the Spanish in the New World had unions and marriages with indigenous women. In the late century, some investigations of ancestry classified as stains any connection with Black Africans. The idea that any hint of Blacks in a lineage was a stain continued to the end of the colonial period and it was illustrated in eighteenth-century paintings of racial hierarchy, known as casta paintings. Indians in Central Mexico were affected by ideas of purity of blood from the other side, Crown decrees on purity of blood were affirmed by indigenous communities, which barred Indians from holding office who had any non-Indians in their lineage

11.
Academy of San Carlos
–
The Academy of San Carlos is located at 22 Academia Street in just northeast of the main plaza of Mexico City. It was the first major art academy and the first art museum in the Americas and it was founded in 1781 as the School of Engraving and moved to the Academia Street location about 10 years later. It emphasized classical European training until the early 20th century, when it shifted to a modern perspective. At this time, it integrated with the National Autonomous University of Mexico, eventually becoming the Faculty of Arts and Design. Currently, only graduate courses of the school are given in the original academy building. The Academy of San Carlos was founded in 1781 under the name of the School of Engraving, the School of Engraving was begun later in the building that used to be the mint, and would later become the modern-day National Museum of Cultures. Ten years later, it moved to the former Amor de Dios Hospital, the street it is located on was renamed from Amor de Dios Street to Academia Street in its honor. The Academy was originally sponsored by the Spanish Crown and a number of private patrons, the academy was inaugurated on 4 November 1781 on the saints day of King Carlos III, operating for its first ten years in the old mint building. However, it did not obtain its royal seal until 1783 and was not fully functional until 1785, the school moved into the old Hospital del Amor de Dios building in 1791, where it has remained ever since. The academy was the first major art institution in the Americas, Tolsá and Ximeno would later stay on to become directors of the school. The new school began to promote Neoclassicism, focusing on Greek and Roman art and architecture, to this end, plaster casts of classic Greek and Roman statues were brought to Mexico from Europe for students to study. Since its founding, it attracted the countrys best artists, and was a force behind the abandonment of the Baroque style in Mexico, in the early 19th century, the academy was closed for a short time due to the Mexican War of Independence. When it reopened, it was renamed the National Academy of San Carlos and enjoyed the new governments preference for Neoclassicism, despite the schools association with the independent Mexican government, Emperor Maximilian I protected the school during his reign, although foreign artists were shunned there. When Benito Juárez ousted the emperor and regained the presidency of Mexico, he was reluctant to support the school and its European influence, the academy continued to advocate classic, European-style training of its artists until 1913. In that year, a student and teacher strike advocating a modern approach ousted director Antonio Rivas Mercado. It was also integrated into University of Mexico at that time. In 1929, the program was separated from the rest of the academy, and in 1953. The remaining programs in painting, sculpture and engraving were renamed National School of Expressive Arts Escuela Nacional de Artes Plásticas, later, the undergraduate fine arts programs were moved to a facility in Xochimilco, leaving only some graduate programs in the original Academy of San Carlos building

12.
Mexican muralism
–
It was headed by “the big three” painters, Diego Rivera, José Clemente Orozco and David Alfaro Siqueiros. The modern tradition has its roots in the 19th century, with use of political and social themes. The first Mexican mural painter to use philosophical themes in his work was Juan Cordero in the mid 19th century, the latter 19th century was dominated politically by the Porfirio Díaz regime. This government was the first to push for the development of the country, supporting the Academy of San Carlos. However, this left out indigenous culture and people, with the aim of making Mexico like Europe. Gerardo Murillo, also known as Dr. Atl, is considered to be the first modern Mexican muralists with the idea that Mexican art should reflect Mexican life, Academy training and the government had only promoted imitations of European art. Atl and other early muralists pressured the Diaz government to allow them to paint on building walls to escape this formalism, Atl also organized an independent exhibition of native Mexican artists promoting many indigenous and national themes along with color schemes that would later appear in mural painting. The first modern Mexican mural, painted by Atl, was a series of female nudes using “Atlcolor” a substance Atl invented himself, very shortly before the beginning of the Mexican Revolution. Another influence on the artists of the late Porfirian period was the graphic work of José Guadalupe Posada. The Mexican Revolution itself was the culmination of political and social opposition to Porfirio Díaz policies, one important oppositional group was a small intellectual community that included Antonio Curo, Alfonso Reyes and José Vasconcelos. These ideas gained power as a result of the Mexican Revolution, however, there was nearly a decade of fighting among the various factions vying for power. Governments changed frequently with a number of assassinations, including that of Francisco I and it ended in the early 1920s with one-party rule in the hands of the Álvaro Obregón faction, which became the Partido Revolucionario Institucional. During the Revolution, Atl supported the Carranza faction and promoted the work of Rivera, Orozco and Siqueiros, through the war and until 1921, Atl continued to paint murals among other activities including teaching the Mexico’s next generation of artists and muralists. In 1921, after the end of the phase of the Revolution. At the time, most of the Mexican population was illiterate and it was Vasconcelos’s idea have a government-backed mural program for this purpose. Similar to mural use in the pre Hispanic period and during the period, the purpose of these murals were not simply aesthetic. These ideals or principles were to glorify the Mexican Revolution and the identity of Mexico as a mestiza nation, the government began to hire the country’s best artists to paint murals, calling some of them home from Europe including Diego Rivera. These initial muralists included Dr. Atl, Ramón Alva de la Canal, Federico Cantú and others and his time as secretary was short but it set how muralism would develop

13.
David Alfaro Siqueiros
–
David Alfaro Siqueiros was a Mexican social realist painter, better known for his large murals in fresco. Along with Diego Rivera and José Clemente Orozco, he established Mexican Muralism and he was a Marxist-Leninist in support of the Soviet Union and a member of the Mexican Communist Party who participated in an unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Leon Trotsky in May 1940. His surname would normally be Alfaro by Spanish naming customs, like Picasso and Lorca, Siqueiros changed his given name to David after his first wife called him by it in allusion to Michelangelos David. Another factual confusion is the year of his birth, he was born in 1896, but many sources state 1898 or 1899. Many details of his childhood, including date, birthplace, first name. Often, he is reported to have been born and raised in 1898 in a town in the state of Chihuahua, Siqueiros was born in Chihuahua in 1896, the second of three children. He was baptized José de Jesús Alfaro Siqueiros and his father, Cipriano Alfaro, originally from Irapuato, was well-off. Siqueiros had two siblings, a sister, Luz, three years older, and a brother Chucho, a year younger, davids mother died when he was four, their father sent the children to live with their paternal grandparents. Davids grandfather, nicknamed Siete Filos, had a strong role in his upbringing. In 1902 Siqueiros started school in Irapuato, Guanajuato and he credits his first rebellious influence to his sister, who had resisted their fathers religious orthodoxy. Around this time, Siqueiros was also exposed to new political ideas, one such political theorist was Dr. Atl, who published a manifesto in 1906 calling for Mexican artists to develop a national art and look to ancient indigenous cultures for inspiration. Their protests eventually led to the establishment of an academy in Santa Anita. At the age of eighteen, Siqueiros and several of his colleagues from the School of Fine Arts joined Venustiano Carranzas Constitutional Army fighting Huertas government and his military travels around the country exposed him to Mexican culture and the raw everyday struggles of the working and rural poor classes. After Carranzas forces had gained control, Siqueiros briefly returned to Mexico City to paint before traveling to Europe in 1919, first in Paris, he absorbed the influence of cubism, intrigued particularly with Paul Cézanne and the use of large blocks of intense color. Although many have said that Siqueiros artistic ventures were frequently interrupted by his political ones, by 1921, when he wrote his manifesto in Vida Americana, Siqueiros had already been exposed to Marxism and saw the life of the working and rural poor while traveling with the Constitutional Army. The manifesto also claimed that a spirit is essential to meaningful art. Through this style, Siqueiros hoped to create a style that would bridge national and universal art, in 1922, Siqueiros returned to Mexico City to work as a muralist for Álvaro Obregóns revolutionary government. Then Secretary of Public Education José Vasconcelos made a mission of educating the masses through public art and hired scores of artists, Siqueiros, Rivera and José Orozco worked together under Vasconcelos, who supported the muralist movement by commissioning murals for prominent buildings in Mexico City

14.
Fernando Leal (artist)
–
Fernando Leal was one of the first painters to participate in the Mexican muralism movement starting in the 1920s. After seeing one of his paintings, Secretary of Education José Vasconcelos invited Leal to paint at the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria, the resulting work is Los danzantes de Chalma. Fernando Leal was born in Mexico City on February 26,1896 and he first studied art at the Academy of San Carlos, then switched to the Escuela al Aire Libre de Coyoacán, studying under Alfredo Ramos Martinez. He was classmates with Gabriel Fernández Ledesma, Rafael Vera de Córdoba, Ramón Alva de la Canal, Leal died on October 7,1964. He is survived by his son, Fernando Leal Audirac, who became a noted Mexican painter. Leal was one of the first muralists in Mexico, in a movement that began in the 1920s, in 1921 Vasconcelos, Secretary of Education, visited Leal’s school in Coyoacán. An easel painting by the artist called Zapatistas at Rest, painted that same year, Leal said that the imagery of the indigenous persons with realistic detail, done in European painting techniques, fit Vasconcelos’ needs. He asked Leal to do a mural on the walls of the preparatory school. ”The first mural he painted was Los danzantes de Chalma at the Escuela Nacional Preparatoria, Leal chose the theme when offered his choice by Vasconcelos. The encaustic mural shows a ritual performed in the town of Chalma, with its fusion of Catholic. It is naturalist in style with simplification of forms in a Post-Impressionist manner, opposite this mural is La conquista de Tenochtitlán by Jean Charlot, who was invited to paint by Leal. The other of his works is a fresco at the Anfiteatro Bolívar. It is notable for its depiction of the life of Simon Bolivar, in the Bolivar mural, Leal combined history with fantasy in the main scene with Bolivar on horseback. The bottom shows the violence of the struggle for liberty, and he also painted works which have not survived. In 1927, he painted murals at the Departamento de Salubridad, also destroyed was a mural for the Instituto Nacional de Panamá, with the title of Neptuno encandenado, a criticism of imperialism. In 1943, he painted two panels in the station of San Luis Potosí called El triunfo de la locomotora. The first of these contrasts the old and new ways to travel, the old way, by foot and horse/donkey, shows robbery and other violent scenes, while the train is shown as traversing great distances. In San Luis Potosí he painted the vault of the San Juan de Díos Church, in 1949, he painted seven murals at the Tepeyac chapel at the Villa de Guadalupe, frescos that narrate the story of the appearance of the Virgin of Guadalupe. He taught painting at the Academy of San Carlos, and in 1927 was appointed director of the Centro Popular de Pintura in Nonoalco and its mission was to make art accessible to the working classes

15.
Mexican Revolution
–
The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle c. 1910–1920 that radically transformed Mexican culture and government. Although recent research has focused on local and regional aspects of the Revolution and its outbreak in 1910 resulted from the failure of the 35-year long regime of Porfirio Díaz to find a managed solution to the presidential succession. This meant there was a crisis among competing elites and the opportunity for agrarian insurrection. Madero challenged Díaz in 1910 presidential election, and following the rigged results, armed conflict ousted Díaz from power and a new election was held in 1911, bringing Madero to the presidency. The origins of the conflict were broadly based in opposition to the Díaz regime, with the 1910 election, elements of the Mexican elite hostile to Díaz, led by Madero, expanded to the middle class, the peasantry in some regions, and organized labor. In October 1911, Madero was overwhelmingly elected in a free, Huerta remained in power from February 1913 until July 1914, when he was forced out by a coalition of different regional revolutionary forces. Then the revolutionaries attempt to come to a political agreement following Huertas ouster failed, Zapata was assassinated in 1919, by agents of President Carranza. The armed conflict lasted for the part of a decade, until around 1920. Revolutionary forces unified against Huertas reactionary regime defeated the Federal forces, although the conflict was primarily a civil war, foreign powers that had important economic and strategic interests in Mexico figured in the outcome of Mexicos power struggles. The United States played a significant role. Out of Mexicos population of 15 million, the losses were high, perhaps 1.5 million people died, nearly 200,000 refugees fled abroad, especially to the United States. Politically, the promulgation of the Mexican Constitution of 1917 is seen by scholars as the end point of the armed conflict. The period 1920–1940 is often considered to be a phase of the Revolution, during which power was consolidated, after the presidency of his ally, General Manuel González, Díaz ran for the presidency again and legally remained in office until 1911. The constitution had been amended to allow presidential re-election, Díazs re-election was ironic, since he had challenged Benito Juárez on the platform no re-election. During the Porfiriato there were regular elections although there were contentious irregularities, the contested 1910 election, was a key political event that led to the Mexican Revolution. As Díaz aged, the question of succession became increasingly important. In 1906, the office of president was revived, with Díaz choosing his close ally Ramón Corral from among his Cientifico advisers to serve in the post. By the 1910 election, the Díaz regime had become highly authoritarian and he had been a national hero, opposing the French Intervention in the 1860s and distinguishing himself in the Battle of Puebla on 5 May 1862

16.
Bonampak
–
Bonampak is an ancient Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Chiapas. The site is approximately 30 km south of the site of Yaxchilan, under which Bonampak was a dependency. While the site is not overly impressive in terms of spatial or architectural size, the construction of the site’s structures dates to the Late Classic period. The site, lying close to a tributary of the Usumacinta River, was first seen by non-Mayans in 1946, precisely who was first is a matter of speculation, but it was either by two American travelers, Herman Charles Frey and John Bourne, or photographer/explorer Giles Healey. The Americans were led to the ruins by the local Lacandon Maya who still visited the site to pray in the ancient temples, Giles Healey was the first to be shown the huge paintings covering the walls of one of the structures three rooms. The paintings show the story of a battle and its victorious outcome. Bird Jaguar in the early 5th century fought against Kinich Tatbu Skull I in Yaxchilan, other nobles were captured in a later war against Knot-eye Jaguar I. In 514, Knot-eye Jaguar I was himself taken captive, giving Bonampak some respite, Bonampak by 600 CE had become a satellite of Yaxchilan. In that time, the ajaw of Yaxchilan installed Yajaw Chan Muwaan I as lord in Bonampak, subsequent ajawob reconstructed the site to orient toward the metropolis. C.790 CE, Yaxchilan’s king Shield Jaguar III oversaw the installation of Chan Muwaan II, Bonampak collapsed with Yaxchilan in the 9th century. Structure 1, Structure 1 at Bonampak, built at the end of the eighth century A. D. measures 16 meters long, four meters deep, and seven meters tall, and is constructed atop a T-shaped platform. Although there is no evidence to support the claim, some speculate that it may have also had a roofcomb, in total, there are some 281 human figures represented within the three rooms, many with captions. The planning and execution of the Bonampak murals points to a team of specialists. This team would have included plasterers, pigment preparers, and possibly calligraphers, the exterior of Structure 1, although poorly preserved, was once richly painted in bright hues of Maya blue, blue-green, red, and yellow. Indeed, almost everything would have covered in paint, as even the floors in each room were painted black. Only the top surfaces of the interior appear to have been left unpainted. In addition to the various colors applied, there were further artistic elements on the facade of Structure 1, above each room there is a small niche housing a seated figure—likely representations of a ruling lord. Between these niches there were two larger stucco scenes, only one of which has survived the ravages of time

17.
Central America
–
Central America is the southernmost, isthmian portion of the North American continent, which connects with South America on the southeast. Central America is bordered by Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the east, Central America consists of seven countries, Belize, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. The combined population of Central America is between 41,739,000 and 42,688,190, Central America is a part of the Mesoamerican biodiversity hotspot, which extends from northern Guatemala through to central Panama. Due to the presence of several active faults and the Central America Volcanic Arc. Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes occur frequently, these disasters have resulted in the loss of many lives. In the Pre-Columbian era, Central America was inhabited by the peoples of Mesoamerica to the north and west. Soon after Christopher Columbuss voyages to the Americas, the Spanish began to colonize the Americas, the seven states finally became independent autonomous states, beginning with Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Guatemala, followed by El Salvador, then Panama, and finally Belize. Middle America is usually thought to comprise Mexico to the north of the 7 states of Central America as well as Colombia, usually the whole of the Caribbean to the north-east and sometimes the Guyanas are also included. According to one source, the term Central America was used as a synonym for Middle America as recently as 1962, in Brazil, Central America comprises all countries between Mexico and Colombia, including those in the Caribbean. Mexico, in whole or in part, is included by British people. For the people living in the 5 countries formerly part of the Federal Republic of Central America there is a distinction between the Spanish language terms América Central and Centroamérica, in the Pre-Columbian era, the northern areas of Central America were inhabited by the indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. Most notable among these were the Mayans, who had built numerous cities throughout the region, and the Aztecs, following Christopher Columbuss voyages to the Americas, the Spanish sent many expeditions to the region, and they began their conquest of Maya territory in 1523. Soon after the conquest of the Aztec Empire, Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado commenced the conquest of northern Central America for the Spanish Empire. Beginning with his arrival in Soconusco in 1523, Alvarados forces systematically conquered and subjugated most of the major Maya kingdoms, including the Kiche, Tzutujil, Pipil, and the Kaqchikel. By 1528, the conquest of Guatemala was nearly complete, with only the Petén Basin remaining outside the Spanish sphere of influence, the last independent Maya kingdoms – the Kowoj and the Itza people – were finally defeated in 1697, as part of the Spanish conquest of Petén. In 1538, Spain established the Real Audiencia of Panama, which had jurisdiction over all land from the Strait of Magellan to the Gulf of Fonseca. This entity was dissolved in 1543, and most of the territory within Central America then fell under the jurisdiction of the Audiencia Real de Guatemala. This area included the current territories of Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, and the Mexican state of Chiapas, the president of the Audiencia, which had its seat in Antigua Guatemala, was the governor of the entire area

18.
Olmec
–
The Olmecs were the first major civilization in Guatemala and Mexico following a progressive development in Soconusco and modern southwestern pacific lowlands of Guatemala. They lived in the lowlands of south-central Mexico, in the present-day states of Veracruz. It has been speculated that Olmec derive in part from neighboring Mokaya and/or Mixe–Zoque, the population of the Olmecs flourished during Mesoamericas formative period, dating roughly from as early as 1500 BCE to about 400 BCE. They were the first Mesoamerican civilization, and laid many of the foundations for the civilizations that followed, among other firsts, the Olmec appeared to practice ritual bloodletting and played the Mesoamerican ballgame, hallmarks of nearly all subsequent Mesoamerican societies. The aspect of the Olmecs most familiar now is their artwork, the Olmec civilization was first defined through artifacts which collectors purchased on the pre-Columbian art market in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Olmec artworks are considered among ancient Americas most striking, the name Olmec comes from the Nahuatl word for the Olmecs, Ōlmēcatl or Ōlmēcah. This word is composed of the two words ōlli, meaning rubber, and mēcatl, meaning people, so the word means rubber people, the Olmec heartland is the area in the Gulf lowlands where it expanded after early development in Soconusco. This area is characterized by swampy lowlands punctuated by low hills, ridges, the Tuxtlas Mountains rise sharply in the north, along the Gulf of Mexicos Bay of Campeche. Here the Olmec constructed permanent city-temple complexes at San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, La Venta, Tres Zapotes, in this region, the first Mesoamerican civilization emerged and reigned from c. The beginnings of Olmec civilization have traditionally been placed between 1400 and 1200 BCE, past finds of Olmec remains ritually deposited at El Manati shrine moved this back to at least 1600–1500 BCE. It seems that the Olmec had their roots in early farming cultures of Tabasco and these shared the same basic food crops and technologies of the later Olmec civilization. What is today called Olmec first appeared fully within the city of San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán, the rise of civilization was assisted by the local ecology of well-watered alluvial soil, as well as by the transportation network provided by the Coatzacoalcos River basin. This environment may be compared to that of other ancient centers of civilization, the Nile, Indus, and Yellow River valleys and this highly productive environment encouraged a densely concentrated population, which in turn triggered the rise of an elite class. The elite class created the demand for the production of the symbolic, the state of Guerrero, and in particular its early Mezcala culture, seem to have played an important role in the early history of Olmec culture. Olmec-style artifacts tend to appear earlier in some parts of Guerrero than in the Veracruz-Tabasco area, in particular, the relevant objects from the Amuco-Abelino site in Guerrero reveal dates as early as 1530 BC. The city of Teopantecuanitlan in Guerrero is also relevant in this regard, the first Olmec center, San Lorenzo, was all but abandoned around 900 BCE at about the same time that La Venta rose to prominence. A wholesale destruction of many San Lorenzo monuments also occurred circa 950 BCE, which may indicate an internal uprising or, less likely, an invasion. The latest thinking, however, is that changes may have been responsible for this shift in Olmec centers

19.
Mesoamerican writing systems
–
Mesoamerica, along with Mesopotamia, Egypt, India and China, is among the five known places in the world where writing has developed independently. Mesoamerican scripts deciphered to date are a combination of logographic and syllabic values and they are often called hieroglyphs due to the iconic shapes of many of the glyphs, a pattern superficially similar to Egyptian hieroglyphs. The best documented and deciphered Mesoamerican writing system, and the most widely known, is the classic Maya script, an extensive Mesoamerican literature has been conserved partly in indigenous scripts and partly in the postconquest transcriptions in the Latin script. Early Olmec ceramics show representations of something that may be codices, suggesting that amatl bark codices and it was also long thought that many of the glyphs present on Olmec monumental sculpture, such as those on the so-called Ambassador Monument, represented an early Olmec script. This suspicion was reinforced in 2002 by the announcement of the discovery of similar glyphs at San Andres and this block was discovered by locals in the Olmec heartland and was dated by the archaeologists to approximately 900 BCE based on other debris. If the authenticity and date can be verified, this will prove to be the earliest writing yet found in Mesoamerica, another candidate for earliest writing system in Mesoamerica is the writing system of the Zapotec culture. Rising in the late Pre-Classic era after the decline of the Olmec civilization, on a few monuments at this archaeological site, archaeologists have found extended text in a glyphic script. Some signs can be recognized as calendric information but the script as such remains undeciphered, the earliest known monument with Zapotec writing is a Danzante stone, officially known as Monument 3, found in San Jose Mogote, Oaxaca. It has a relief of what appears to be a dead, first dated to 500–600 BCE, this was earlier considered the earliest writing in Mesoamerica. However doubts have been expressed as to dating and the monument may have been reused. The Zapotec script went out of use only in the late Classic period, a small number of artifacts found in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec show examples of another early Mesoamerican writing system. They can be seen to contain calendric information but are otherwise undeciphered, the longest of these texts are on La Mojarra Stela 1 and the Tuxtla Statuette. The writing system used is very close to the Mayan script, using affixal glyphs and Long Count dates and it has been suggested that this Isthmian or Epi-Olmec script is the direct predecessor of the Mayan script, thus giving the Mayan script a non-Mayan origin. Another artifact with Epi-Olmec script is the Chiapa de Corzo stela which is the oldest monument of the Americas inscribed with its own date, in a 1997 paper, John Justeson and Terrence Kaufman put forward a decipherment of Epi-Olmec. In the highland Mayan archaeological sites of Abaj Takalik and Kaminaljuyú writing has been dating to Izapan culture. It is likely that in this area in late Pre-Classic times an ancient form of a Mixe–Zoquean language was spoken, some glyphs in this scripts are readable as they are identical to Mayan glyphs but the script remains undeciphered. The advanced decay and destruction of archaeological sites make it improbable that more monuments with these scripts will come to light making possible a decipherment. The earliest inscriptions in an identifiably Maya script date back to 200–300 BCE, early examples include the painted inscriptions at the caves of Naj Tunich and La Cobanerita in El Petén, Guatemala

20.
Mesoamerican calendars
–
Mesoamerican calendars are the calendrical systems devised and used by the pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica. Besides keeping time, Mesoamerican calendars were used in religious observances and social rituals. The existence of Mesoamerican calendars is known as early as ca.500 BCE, with the essentials already appearing fully defined and these calendars are still used today in the Guatemalan highlands, Veracruz, Oaxaca and Chiapas, Mexico. Among the various systems in use, two were particularly central and widespread across Mesoamerica. Common to all recorded Mesoamerican cultures, and the most important, was the 260-day calendar, apparently the earliest Mesoamerican calendar to be developed, it was known by a variety of local terms, and its named components and the glyphs used to depict them were similarly culture-specific. However, it is clear that this calendar functioned in essentially the same way across cultures, the second of the major calendars was one representing a 365-day period approximating the tropical year, known sometimes as the vague year. Because it was an approximation, over time the seasons and the tropical year gradually wandered with respect to this calendar. There is little evidence to suggest that the ancient Mesoamericans used any intercalary days to bring their calendar back into alignment. However, there is evidence to show Mesoamericans were aware of this gradual shifting and these two 260- and 365-day calendars could also be synchronised to generate the Calendar Round, a period of 18980 days or approximately 52 years. The completion and observance of this Calendar Round sequence was of significance to a number of Mesoamerican cultures. Most commonly, five such cycles in a modified vigesimal count were used. The use of Mesoamerican calendrics is one of the traits that Paul Kirchoff used in his original formulation to define Mesoamerica as a culture area. Therefore, the use of Mesoamerican calendars is specific to Mesoamerica and is not found outside its boundaries, in the 260-day cycle 20 day names pairs with 13 day numbers, totalling a cycle of 260 days. This cycle was used for purposes to foretell lucky and unlucky days. The date of birth was used to give names to both humans and gods in many Mesoamerican cultures, some cultures used only the calendar name whereas others combined it with a given name. Each day sign was presided over by a god and many had associations with natural phenomena. The exact origin of the 260-day count is not known, one theory is that the calendar came from mathematical operations based on the numbers thirteen and twenty, which were important numbers to the Maya. The numbers multiplied together equal 260, another theory is that the 260-day period came from the length of human pregnancy

21.
Olmec colossal heads
–
The Olmec colossal heads are at least seventeen monumental stone representations of human heads sculpted from large basalt boulders. The heads date from at least before 900 BC and are a feature of the Olmec civilization of ancient Mesoamerica. The backs of the monuments often are flat, the boulders were brought from the Sierra de los Tuxtlas mountains of Veracruz. Each of the known examples has a distinctive headdress, the heads were variously arranged in lines or groups at major Olmec centres, but the method and logistics used to transport the stone to these sites remain unclear. The discovery of a head at Tres Zapotes in the nineteenth century spurred the first archaeological investigations of Olmec culture by Matthew Stirling in 1938. Seventeen confirmed examples are known from four sites within the Olmec heartland on the Gulf Coast of Mexico, most colossal heads were sculpted from spherical boulders but two from San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán were re-carved from massive stone thrones. An additional monument, at Takalik Abaj in Guatemala, is a throne that may have been carved from a colossal head and this is the only known example from outside the Olmec heartland. Dating the monuments remains difficult because of the movement of many from their original contexts prior to archaeological investigation, most have been dated to the Early Preclassic period with some to the Middle Preclassic period. The smallest weigh 6 tons, while the largest is estimated to weigh 40 to 50 tons, although it was abandoned. The Olmec civilization developed in the lowlands of southeastern Mexico between 1500 and 400 BC, of these, only the Olmec civilization developed in a lowland tropical forest setting. The Olmecs were the first inhabitants of the Americas to construct monumental architecture and to settle in towns and they were also the first people in the Americas to develop a sophisticated style of stone sculpture. In the first decade of the 21st century evidence emerged of Olmec writing, examples of script have been found on roller stamps and stone artefacts, the texts are short and have been partially deciphered based on their similarity to other Mesoamerican scripts. The evidence of complex society developing in the Olmec heartland has led to the Olmecs being regarded as the Mother Culture of Mesoamerica, some of the Olmecs rulers seem to have served religious functions. The nature and degree of the control exercised by the centres over a rural population remains unclear. Very fine Olmec art, much clearly made for an elite, survives in several forms, notably Olmec figurines, the figurines have been recovered in large numbers and are mostly in pottery, these were presumably widely available to the population. These evocative stone face masks present both similarities and differences to the colossal heads, two thirds of Olmec monumental sculpture represents the human form, and the colossal heads fall within this major theme of Olmec art. The colossal heads cannot be precisely dated, however, the San Lorenzo heads were buried by 900 BC, indicating that their period of manufacture and use was earlier still. The period of production of the heads is therefore unknown

22.
Jade
–
Jade is an ornamental green rock. The middle member of series with an intermediate composition is called actinolite. The higher the content, the greener the colour. Jadeite is a sodium- and aluminium-rich pyroxene, the precious form of jadeite jade is a microcrystalline interlocking growth of jadeite crystals. The English word jade is derived from the Spanish term piedra de ijada or loin stone, from its reputed efficacy in curing ailments of the loins, nephrite is derived from lapis nephriticus, a Latin translation of the Spanish piedra de ijada. Nephrite and jadeite were used from prehistoric periods for hardstone carving, jadeite has about the same hardness as quartz. Nephrite is slightly softer but tougher than jadeite and it was not until the 19th century that a French mineralogist, Alexis Damour, determined that jade was in fact two different minerals. Among the earliest known jade artifacts excavated from prehistoric sites are simple ornaments with bead, button, additionally, jade was used for adze heads, knives, and other weapons, which can be delicately shaped. As metal-working technologies became available, the beauty of jade made it valuable for ornaments and decorative objects. Jadeite measures between 6.0 and 7.0 Mohs hardness, and nephrite between 6.0 and 6.5, so it can be worked with quartz or garnet sand, of the two, jadeite is rarer, documented in fewer than 12 places worldwide. Translucent emerald-green jadeite is the most prized variety, both historically and today, Burma and Guatemala are the principal sources of modern gem jadeite. In the area of Mogaung in the Myitkyina District of Upper Burma, jadeite formed a layer in the dark-green serpentine, Canada provides the major share of modern lapidary nephrite. Nephrite jade was used mostly in pre-1800 China as well as in New Zealand, the Pacific Coast and the Atlantic Coast of North America, Neolithic Europe, in addition to Mesoamerica, jadeite was used by Neolithic Japanese and European cultures. Dushan Jade was being mined as early as 6000 BC, in the Yin Ruins of the Shang Dynasty in Anyang, Dushan Jade ornaments were unearthed in the tomb of the Shang kings. Jade was used to create many utilitarian and ceremonial objects, from indoor decorative items to jade burial suits, Jade was considered the imperial gem. There, white and greenish nephrite jade is found in quarries and as pebbles. The river jade collection is concentrated in the Yarkand, the White Jade, jadeite, with its bright emerald-green, pink, lavender, orange and brown colours was imported from Burma to China only after about 1800. The vivid green variety became known as Feicui or Kingfisher Jade, in the history of the art of the Chinese empire, jade has had a special significance, comparable with that of gold and diamonds in the West

23.
Teotihuacan
–
Additionally, Teotihuacan exported fine obsidian tools that garnered high prestige and widespread usage throughout Mesoamerica. The city is thought to have been established around 100 BC, the city may have lasted until sometime between the 7th and 8th centuries AD, but its major monuments were sacked and systematically burned around 550 AD. Teotihuacan began as a new center in the Mexican Highlands around the first century AD. This city came to be the largest and most populated center in the pre-Columbian Americas, Teotihuacan was even home to multi-floor apartment compounds built to accommodate this large population. The term Teotihuacan is also used for the civilization and cultural complex associated with the site. The later Aztecs saw these magnificent ruins and claimed a common ancestry with the Teotihuacanos, the ethnicity of the inhabitants of Teotihuacan is also a subject of debate. Possible candidates are the Nahua, Otomi, or Totonac ethnic groups, scholars have also suggested that Teotihuacan was a multi-ethnic state. The city and the site are located in what is now the San Juan Teotihuacán municipality in the State of México. The site covers a surface area of 83 square kilometres and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1987. It is the most visited site in Mexico. The name Teōtīhuacān was given by the Nahuatl-speaking Aztecs centuries after the fall of the city around 550 A. D, the term has been glossed as birthplace of the gods, or place where gods were born, reflecting Nahua creation myths that were said to occur in Teotihuacan. Nahuatl scholar Thelma D. Sullivan interprets the name as place of those who have the road of the gods and this is because the Aztecs believed that the gods created the universe at that site. The name is pronounced in Nahuatl, with the accent on the syllable wa, by normal Nahuatl orthographic conventions, a written accent would not appear in that position. Both this pronunciation and Spanish pronunciation, are used, and both appear in this article. The original name of the city is unknown, but it appears in texts from the Maya region as puh. This naming convention led to confusion in the early 20th century. It now seems clear that Tollan may be understood as a generic Nahua term applied to any large settlement, the early history of Teotihuacan is quite mysterious, and the origin of its founders is uncertain. Around 300 BC, people of the central and southeastern area of Mesoamerica began to gather into larger settlements, Teotihuacan was the largest urban center of Mesoamerica before the Aztecs, almost 1000 years prior to their epoch

24.
Zapotec peoples
–
The Zapotecs are an indigenous people of Mexico. The population is concentrated in the state of Oaxaca. The present-day population is estimated at approximately 800,000 to 1,000,000 persons, many of whom are monolingual in one of the native Zapotec languages and dialects. In pre-Columbian times, the Zapotec civilization was one of the highly developed cultures of Mesoamerica, many people of Zapotec ancestry have emigrated to the United States over several decades, and they maintain their own social organizations in the Los Angeles and Central Valley areas of California. The name Zapottec is an exonym coming from Nahuatl tzapotēcah, which inhabitants of the place of sapote. The Zapotecs call themselves Ben Zaa, which means The Cloud People, Zapotec people have changed their last names to zapote to show their respect on their heritage and carrying the last name for further generations. The first Zapotecs came to Oaxaca from the north, probably in about 1000 BCE, while never displacing other peoples entirely, they became the predominant ethnic group. They built many important cities, the most renowned of which are Monte Albán, the Zapotecan language group is composed of over 60 variants of Zapotecan, as well as the closely related Chatino language. The major variant is Isthmus Zapotec, which is spoken on the Pacific coastal plain of Southern Oaxacas Isthmus of Tehuantepec, though the Zapotecs are now largely Catholics, some of their ancient beliefs and practices, such as the burial of the dead with valuables, still survive. Zapotec women in the Mexican state of Oaxaca play a variety of roles in their families and communities. As is true for other cultures, Zapotec women have historically had a different place in society than men. These roles are in the context of marriage, childbearing, within them, they make up a vital part of the fabric that is Zapotec Oaxaca. Much of Zapotec social life is strongly segregated by gender, men and women often work separately, coming together to eat in the morning and evening, and during ritual occasions, they remain separate except when dancing. The purity of women is highly valued and their sexual and social autonomy can be hindered as a result, most women in the community, whether old or young, are concerned with protecting their sexual reputations. Many girls are strictly watched and not allowed to walk the streets alone after the age of ten or eleven. Though this is seen as a way to protect the women, in dating and marriage, women are generally free to choose romantic partners, monogamy is valued, but having multiple sexual partners is not. Within marriage, the degree to women are able to exercise agency depends on the husband. Some women are free and have the ability to do as they wish

25.
Maya peoples
–
The Maya people are a group of Indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica. They inhabit southern Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador, the pre-Columbian Maya population was approximately eight million. There were a seven million Maya living in this area at the start of the 21st century. Guatemala, southern Mexico and the Yucatán Peninsula, Belize, El Salvador, one of the largest groups of modern Maya can be found in Mexicos Yucatán State and the neighboring states of Campeche, Quintana Roo and in Belize. These peoples commonly identify themselves simply as Maya with no further ethnic subdivision and they speak the language which anthropologists term Yucatec Maya, but is identified by speakers and Yucatecos simply as Maya. Among Maya speakers, Spanish is commonly spoken as a second or first language, linguists refer to the Maya language as Yucatec or Yucatec Maya to distinguish it from other Mayan languages. This norm has often been misinterpreted to mean that the people are also called Yucatec Maya, that refers only to the language. Maya is one language in the Mayan language family, thus, to refer to Maya as Mayans would be similar to referring to Spanish people as Romantics because they speak a language belonging to the Romance language family. Confusion of the term Maya/Mayan as an ethnic label occurs because Maya women who use traditional dress identify by the ethnic term mestiza, the Yucatáns indigenous population was first exposed to Europeans after a party of Spanish shipwreck survivors came ashore in 1511. One of the sailors, Gonzalo Guerrero, is reported to have taken up with a woman and started a family. Later Spanish expeditions to the region were led by Córdoba in 1517, Grijalva in 1518, from 1528 to 1540, several attempts by Francisco Montejo to conquer the Yucatán failed. His son, Francisco de Montejo the Younger, fared almost as badly when he first took over, while holding out at Chichen Itza. Chichen Itza was conquered by 1570, in 1542, the western Yucatán Peninsula also surrendered to him. Historically, the population in the half of the peninsula was less affected by. In the 21st century in the Yucatán Peninsula, between 750,000 and 1,200,000 people speak Mayan, however, three times more than that are of Maya origins, hold ancient Maya surnames, and do not speak Mayan languages as their first language. Matthew Restall, in his book The Maya Conquistador, mentions a series of letters sent to the King of Spain in the 16th and 17th centuries. The noble Maya families at that time signed documents to the Spanish Royal Family, surnames mentioned in letters are Pech, Camal, Xiu, Ucan, Canul, Cocom. A large 19th-century revolt by the native Maya people of Yucatán, for a period the Maya state of Chan Santa Cruz was recognized as an independent nation by the British Empire, particularly in terms of trading with British Honduras

26.
Belize
–
Belize, formerly British Honduras, is an independent country on the eastern coast of Central America. Belize is bordered on the north by Mexico, on the south and west by Guatemala and its mainland is about 290 km long and 110 km wide. Belize has an area of 22,800 square kilometres and a population of 368,310 and it has the lowest population density in Central America. The countrys population growth rate of 1. 87% per year is the second highest in the region, Belizes abundance of terrestrial and marine species and its diversity of ecosystems gives it a key place in the globally significant Mesoamerican Biological Corridor. Belize has a society, composed of many cultures and languages that reflect its rich history. English is the language of Belize, with Belizean Kriol being the unofficial language. Over half the population is multilingual, with Spanish being the second most common spoken language, Belize is considered a Central American and Caribbean nation with strong ties to both the Latin American and Caribbean regions. Belize is a Commonwealth realm, with Queen Elizabeth II as its monarch, Belize is known for its September Celebrations, its extensive coral reefs, and punta music. The origin of the name Belize remains unclear, the earliest known record of the name appears in the journal of the Dominican priest Fray José Delgado, dating to 1677. Delgado recorded the names of three rivers that he crossed while travelling north along the Caribbean coast, Rio Soyte, Rio Xibum. The names of these waterways, which correspond to the Sittee River, Sibun River and it is likely that Delgados Balis was actually the Mayan word belix, meaning muddy-watered. Others have suggested that the name derives from a Spanish pronunciation of the name of the Scottish buccaneer Peter Wallace, there is no proof that Wallace settled in this area and some scholars have characterized this claim as a myth. Writers and historians have suggested other possible etymologies, including postulated French. Many aspects of this culture persist in the area despite nearly 500 years of European domination, prior to about 2500 BC, some hunting and foraging bands settled in small farming villages, they later domesticated crops such as corn, beans, squash, and chili peppers. A profusion of languages and subcultures developed within the Maya core culture, between about 2500 BC and 250 AD, the basic institutions of Maya civilisation emerged. The peak of this occurred during the classic period, which began about 250 AD. The Maya civilisation spread across what is now Belize around 1500 BC, the recorded history of the middle and southern regions is dominated by Caracol, an urban political centre that may have supported over 140,000 people. North of the Maya Mountains, the most important political centre was Lamanai, in the late Classic Era of Maya civilisation, as many as 1 million people may have lived in the area that is now Belize

27.
Guatemala
–
With an estimated population of around 15.8 million, it is the most populated state in Central America. Guatemala is a democracy, its capital and largest city is Nueva Guatemala de la Asunción. The territory of modern Guatemala once formed the core of the Maya civilization, most of the country was conquered by the Spanish in the 16th century, becoming part of the viceroyalty of New Spain. Guatemala attained independence in 1821 as part of the Federal Republic of Central America, from the mid to late 19th century, Guatemala experienced chronic instability and civil strife. Beginning in the early 20th century, it was ruled by a series of dictators backed by the United Fruit Company, in 1944, authoritarian leader Jorge Ubico was overthrown by a pro-democratic military coup, initiating a decade-long revolution that led to sweeping social and economic reforms. A U. S. -backed military coup in 1954 ended the revolution, from 1960 to 1996, Guatemala endured a bloody civil war fought between the US-backed government and leftist rebels, including genocidal massacres of the Maya population perpetrated by the military. As of 2014, Guatemala ranks 31st of 33 Latin American and Caribbean countries in terms of the Human Development Index, Guatemalas abundance of biologically significant and unique ecosystems includes a large number of endemic species and contributes to Mesoamericas designation as a biodiversity hotspot. The country is known for its rich and distinct culture. The name Guatemala comes from the Nahuatl word Cuauhtēmallān, or place of many trees and this was the name the Tlaxcaltecan soldiers who accompanied Pedro de Alvarado during the Spanish Conquest gave to this territory. The first evidence of habitation in Guatemala dates back to 12,000 BC. Evidence, such as obsidian arrowheads found in parts of the country. There is archaeological proof that early Guatemalan settlers were hunters and gatherers, pollen samples from Petén and the Pacific coast indicate that maize cultivation had been developed by 3500 BC. Sites dating back to 6500 BC have been found in the Quiché region in the Highlands, archaeologists divide the pre-Columbian history of Mesoamerica into the Preclassic period, the Classic period, and the Postclassic period. Until recently, the Preclassic was regarded as a period, with small villages of farmers who lived in huts. This period is characterized by urbanisation, the emergence of independent city-states and this lasted until approximately 900 AD, when the Classic Maya civilization collapsed. The Maya abandoned many of the cities of the lowlands or were killed off by a drought-induced famine. The cause of the collapse is debated, but the Drought Theory is gaining currency, supported by such as lakebeds, ancient pollen. A series of prolonged droughts, among other such as overpopulation, in what is otherwise a seasonal desert is thought to have decimated the Maya

28.
Mesoamerican ballcourt
–
A Mesoamerican ballcourt is a large masonry structure of a type used in Mesoamerica for over 2,700 years to play the Mesoamerican ballgame, particularly the hip-ball version of the ballgame. More than 1,300 ballcourts have been identified, 60% in the last 20 years alone. Although there is a variation in size, in general all ballcourts are the same shape. Although the alleys in early ballcourts were open-ended, later ballcourts had enclosed end-zones, ballcourts were also used for functions other than, or in addition to, ballgames. Ceramics from western Mexico show ballcourts being used for other sporting endeavours, although ballcourts are found within most Mesoamerican sites, they are not equally distributed across time or geography. In contrast, Northern Chiapas and the northern Maya Lowlands have relatively few, and ballcourts are conspicuously absent at some sites, including Teotihuacan, Bonampak. At Cantona, for example, the number of ballcourts is likely due to the many. One of the smallest, at Tikal site, is only one-sixth the size of the Great Ballcourt at Chichen Itza, the following is a comparison of the size of the playing alleys for several well-known ballcourts. The earliest ballcourts were doubtless temporary marked off areas of compacted soil much like those used to play the modern ulama game, paso de la Amada, Soconusco, along the Pacific coast boasts the oldest ballcourt yet identified, dated to approximately 1400 BC. This narrow ballcourt has an 80 m ×8 m flat playing alley defined by two flanking earthen mounds with benches running along their length. By the Early Classic, ballcourt designs began to feature a pair of mounds set some distance beyond the ends of the alley as if to keep errant balls from rolling too far away. By the Terminal Classic, the end zones of many ballcourts were enclosed, the evolution of the ballcourt is, of course, more complex than the foregoing suggests, and with over 1300 known ballcourts, there are exceptions to any generalization. Open ballcourts continued to be constructed into the Terminal Classic and at smaller sites, some ballcourts featured only one enclosed endzone while some ballcourts endzones are of different depths. During the Formative period, some enclosed ballcourts were entirely rectangular, one such court, at La Lagunita in the Guatemala Highlands, features rounded side walls. Unlike the compacted earth of the alley, the side walls of the formal ballcourts were lined with stone blocks. These walls featured 3 or more horizontal and sloping surfaces, there the vertical surfaces were covered with elaborate reliefs showing scenes, particularly sacrificial scenes, related to the ballgame. Most prominent ballcourts were part of their town or citys central monumental precinct and as such they share the orientation of pyramids, other than this general trend, no consistent orientation of ballcourts throughout Mesoamerica has been found, although some patterns do emerge at the regional level. In the Cotzumalhuapa region, for example, open-ended ballcourts with a north-south orientation were earlier than east-west enclosed courts, stone rings, tenoned into the wall at mid-court, appeared in the Terminal Classic era

29.
Octavio Paz
–
Octavio Paz Lozano was a Mexican poet and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, Octavio Paz was introduced to literature early in his life through the influence of his grandfathers library, filled with classic Mexican and European literature. During the 1920s, he discovered Gerardo Diego, Juan Ramón Jiménez, as a teenager in 1931, Paz published his first poems, including Cabellera. Two years later, at the age of 19, he published Luna Silvestre, in 1932, with some friends, he founded his first literary review, Barandal. In 1937 at the age of 23, Paz abandoned his law studies and left Mexico City for Yucatán to work at a school in Mérida, set up for the sons of peasants and workers. There, he working on the first of his long, ambitious poems. Influenced by the work of T. S. Eliot, it explores the situation of the Mexican peasant under the landlords of the day. Upon his return to Mexico, Paz co-founded a literary journal, Taller in 1938, in 1937 he married Elena Garro, who is considered one of Mexicos finest writers. They had one daughter, Helena, and were divorced in 1959, in 1943, Paz received a Guggenheim fellowship and used it to study at the University of California at Berkeley in the United States. Two years later he entered the Mexican diplomatic service, and was assigned for a time to New York City, in 1945, he was sent to Paris, where he wrote El Laberinto de la Soledad. In 1952, he travelled to India for the first time and that same year, he went to Tokyo, as chargé daffaires. He next was assigned to Geneva, Switzerland and he returned to Mexico City in 1954, where he wrote his great poem Piedra de sol in 1957, and published Libertad bajo palabra, a compilation of his poetry up to that time. He was sent again to Paris in 1959, in 1962 he was named Mexicos ambassador to India. In India, Paz completed several works, including El mono gramático, while in India, he met numerous writers of a group known as the Hungry Generation and had a profound influence on them. He met his first wife Elena Garro a writer in Mexico City and was married to her in 1937 and they had a daughter Helena Laura Paz Garro. In 1965, he married Marie-José Tramini, a French woman who would be his wife for the rest of his life. In October 1968, he resigned from the service in protest of the Mexican governments massacre of student demonstrators in the Plaza de las Tres Culturas in Tlatelolco. After staying in Paris for refuge, he returned to Mexico in 1969 and he founded his magazine Plural with a group of liberal Mexican and Latin American writers

30.
Fretwork
–
Fretwork is an interlaced decorative design that is either carved in low relief on a solid background, or cut out with a fretsaw, coping saw, jigsaw or scroll saw. Most fretwork patterns are geometric in design, the materials most commonly used are wood and metal. Fretwork is used to adorn furniture and musical instruments, the term is also used for tracery on glazed windows and doors. Fretwork patterns originally were ornamental designs used to decorate objects with a grid or a lattice, designs have developed from the rectangular wave Greek fret to intricate intertwined patterns. A common misconception is that fretwork must be done with a fretsaw, however, a fretwork pattern is considered a fretwork whether or not it was cut out with a fretsaw. Computer numerical control has brought change in the method of timber fretwork manufacture. Lasers or router/milling cutting implements can now fashion timber and various materials into flat

31.
Tlatilco culture
–
Tlatilco culture is a culture that flourished in the Valley of Mexico between the years 1250 BCE and 800 BCE, during the Mesoamerican Early Formative period. Tlatilco, Tlapacoya, and Coapexco are the major Tlatilco culture sites, Tlatilco culture shows a marked increase in specialization over earlier cultures, including more complex settlement patterns, specialized occupations, and stratified social structures. In particular, the development of the centers at Tlatilco. Specifically, the Tlatilco culture is defined by the presence of, Both ritual, Both animal and human figurines rendered in a somewhat stylized manner. Clay masks and other ritual objects. Olmec-style decorations, motifs, designs, and figurines such as the hollow baby-face figurines or the pilli-style costumed males, one survey of Tlatilco graves found that Olmec-style objects were ubiquitous in the earliest upper-middle status burials but were unrelated to wealth. The Olmec-style artifacts appear suddenly, abundantly, and pervasively in the record at the outset of the Ayotla phase. By 800 BCE, the hallmarks of the Tlatilco culture fade from the archaeological record, by 700 BCE, Cuicuilco had become the largest and most dynamic city in the Valley of Mexico, eclipsing Tlatilco and Tlapacoya. Olmec figurine Bradley, Douglas E. and Peter David Joralemon The Lords of Life, The Iconogaphy of Power and Fertility in Preclassic Mesoamerica, Snite Museum of Art, the Olmecs, Americas First Civilization, Thames & Hudson, London. The San Pablo Pantheon Mound, a Middle Preclassic Site Found in Morelos, Mexico, in American Antiquity, v35 n1, January 1970, niederberger Betton, Christine Paléo-paysages et archéologie pré-urbaine du Bassin de Mexico, Centre d’études mexicaines et centraméricaines, coll. Pool, Christopher A. Olmec Archaeology and Early Mesoamerica

32.
Amate
–
Amate is a type of bark paper that has been manufactured in Mexico since the precontact times. It was used primarily to create codices, Amate paper production never completely died, nor did the rituals associated with it. It remained strongest in the rugged, remote areas of northern Puebla. Spiritual leaders in the village of San Pablito, Puebla were described as producing paper with magical properties. Foreign academics began studying this use of amate in the mid-20th century. Through this and other innovations, amate paper is one of the most widely available Mexican indigenous handicrafts, Amate paper has a long history. The development of paper in Mesoamerica parallels that of China and Egypt and it is not known exactly where or when paper making began in Mesoamerica. The oldest known amate paper dates back to 75 CE and it was discovered at the site of Huitzilapa, Jalisco. Huitzilapa is a shaft tomb culture site located northwest of Tequila Volcano near the town of Magdalena, the crumpled piece of paper was found in the southern chamber of the sites shaft tomb, possibly associated with a male scribe. Rather than being produced from Trema micrantha, from which modern amate is made, iconography dating from the period contains depictions of items thought to be paper. For example, Monument 52 from the Olmec site of San Lorenzo Tenochtitlán illustrates an individual adorned with ear pennants of folded paper. The oldest known surviving book made from amate paper may be the Grolier Codex, arguments from the 1940s to the 1970s have centered on a time of 300 CE of the use of bark clothing by the Maya people. Ethnolinguistic studies lead to the names of two villages in Maya territory that relate the use of paper, Excachaché and Yokzachuún. Anthropologist Marion mentions that in Lacandones, in Chiapas, the Maya were still manufacturing and using bark clothing in the 1980s, however, according researcher Hans Lenz, this Maya paper was likely not the amate paper known in later Mesoamerica. The Mayan language word for book is hun, Amate paper was used most extensively during the Triple Alliance Empire. This paper was manufactured in over 40 villages in territory controlled by the Aztecs and this amounted to about 480,000 sheets annually. Most of the production was concentrated in the state of Morelos. This paper was assigned to the sector, to be used as gifts on special occasions or as rewards for warriors

33.
Veracruz
–
It is divided in 212 municipalities and its capital city is Xalapa-Enríquez. This state is located in Eastern Mexico and it is bordered by the states of Tamaulipas to the north, San Luis Potosí and Hidalgo to the west, Puebla to the southwest, Oaxaca and Chiapas to the south, and Tabasco to the southeast. On its east, Veracruz has a significant share of the coastline of the Gulf of Mexico, the state is noted for its mixed ethnic and indigenous populations. Its cuisine reflects the cultural influences that have come through the state because of the importance of the port of Veracruz. In addition to the city, the states largest cities include Veracruz, Coatzacoalcos, Córdoba, Minatitlán, Poza Rica, Boca Del Río. The full name of the state is Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave, Veracruz was named after the city of Veracruz, which was originally called the Villa Rica de la Vera Cruz. The suffix is in honor of Ignacio de la Llave y Segura Zevallos, the state’s seal was authorized by the state legislature in 1954, adapting the one used for the port of Veracruz and created by the Spanish in the early 16th century. The state is a strip of land wedged between the Sierra Madre Oriental to the west and the Gulf of Mexico to the east. Its total area is 78,815 km2, accounting for about 3. 7% of Mexico’s total territory and it stretches about 650 km north to south, but its width varies from between 212 km to 36 km, with an average of about 100 km in width. Veracruz shares common borders with the states of Tamaulipas, Oaxaca and Chiapas, Tabasco, and Puebla, Hidalgo, Veracruz has 690 km of coastline with the Gulf of Mexico. The topography changes drastically, rising from the coastal plains to the highlands of the eastern Sierra Madre. Elevation varies from sea level to the Pico de Orizaba, Mexico’s highest peak at 5,636 m above sea level, the coast consists of low sandy strips interspersed with tidewater streams and lagoons. Most of the coastline is narrow and sandy with unstable dunes, small shifting lagoons. The mountains are of the Sierra Madre Oriental and the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, major peaks include Pico de Orizaba, Cofre de Perote, Cerro de Tecomates, Cerro del Vigía Alta and Cerro de 3 Tortas. The Pico de Orizaba is covered in snow year round, the Cofre de Perote is covered in winter, major valleys include the Acultzingo, Córdoba, Maltrata, Orizaba and San Andrés. All of the rivers and streams cross the state begin in the Sierra Madre Oriental or in the Central Mesa. The largest in terms of discharge are the Pánuco, Tuxpan, Papaloapan, Coazocoalcos. The Panuco, Tuxpan, Papaloapan and Coatzacoalcos are navigable, two of Mexicos most polluted rivers, the Coatzacoalcos and the Río Blanco are located in the state

34.
Valley of Mexico
–
The Valley of Mexico is a highlands plateau in central Mexico roughly coterminous with the present-day Distrito Federal and the eastern half of the State of Mexico. Surrounded by mountains and volcanoes, the Valley of Mexico was a centre for several civilizations, including Teotihuacan, the Toltec. The ancient Aztec term Anahuac and the phrase Basin of Mexico are both used at times to refer to the Valley of Mexico, the Basin of Mexico became a well known site that epitomized the scene of early Classic Mesoamerican cultural development as well. The Valley of Mexico is located in the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, the valley contains most of the Mexico City Metropolitan Area, as well as parts of the State of Mexico, Hidalgo, Tlaxcala and Puebla. The Valley of Mexico can be subdivided into four basins, but the largest and this section of the valley in particular is colloquially referred to as the Valley of Mexico. The valley has an altitude of 2,200 meters above sea level and is surrounded by mountains. It is a valley with no natural outlet for water to flow. Within this vulnerable watershed all the fishes were extinct by the end of the 20th century. Hydrologically, the valley has three features, the first feature is the lakebeds of five now-extinct lakes, which are located in the southernmost and largest of the four sub-basins. The other two features are piedmont, and the mountainsides that collect the precipitation that eventually flows to the lake area and these last two are found in all four of the sub-basins of the valley. Today, the Valley drains through a series of canals to the Tula River, and eventually the Pánuco River. Seismic activity is frequent here, and the valley is considered an earthquake prone zone, the valley has been inhabited for at least 12,000 years, attracting humans with its mild climate, abundant game and ability to support large-scale agriculture. Civilizations that have arisen in this include the Teotihuacan the Toltec Empire. When the Spaniards arrived in the Valley of Mexico, it had one of the highest population concentrations in the world with one million people. After the Conquest, the Spaniards rebuilt the largest and most dominant city here, Tenochtitlan, although violence and disease significantly lowered the population of the valley after the Conquest, by 1900 it was again over one million people. The 20th and 21st centuries have seen an explosion of population in the valley along with the growth of industry, since 1900, the population has doubled every fifteen years. Today, around 21 million people live in the Mexico City Metropolitan Area which extends throughout almost all of the valley into the states of Mexico, the growth of a major urban, industrial centre in an enclosed basin has created significant air and water quality issues for the valley. Wind patterns and thermal inversions trap contaminants in the valley, over-extraction of ground water has caused new flooding problems for the city as it sinks below the historic lake floor

35.
Guerrero
–
Guerrero, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guerrero, is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided in 81 municipalities and its capital city is Chilpancingo and it is located in Southwestern Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Michoacán to the north and west, México and Morelos to the north, Puebla to the northeast and Oaxaca to the east. The state was named after Vicente Guerrero, one of the most prominent leaders in the Mexican War of Independence and it is the only Mexican state named after a president. The modern entity did not exist until 1849, when it was carved out of territories from the states of Mexico, Puebla and Michoacán. In addition to the city, the states largest cities include Acapulco, Petatlan, Ciudad Altamirano, Taxco, Iguala, Ixtapa, Zihuatanejo. Today, it is home to a number of communities, including the Nahuas, Mixtecs. It is also home to communities of Afro-Mexicans in the Costa Chica region, geographically, the state is mountainous and rugged with flat areas limited to small mesas and the coast line. Tourism is the single most important economic factor of the state, however, other sources of employment are scarce in the state, which has caused its ranking as number one in the emigration of workers to the United States. The first humans in the territory were nomadic hunter-gatherers who left evidence of their existence in various caves starting about 20,000 years ago. After that, settlements appeared near the coast because of fishing, at these sites, evidence of weaving, ceramics, basketry and other crafts have been found. Around this time, a grain called teocintle, or the forerunner to corn, Olmec influences can be seen in cave paintings such as those found in Juxtlahuaca and well as stone tools and jade jewelry from the time period. Recent evidence indicates that ancient Guerrero cultures may have influenced the development of the Olmecs. Eventually, the peoples of the Mexcala River area developed their own distinctive culture and it is characterized by its own sculpture and ceramics, distinguished by its simplicity. Olmec influence remained with this culture, especially evident in the grouping of villages, construction of ceremonial centers, later, the culture assimilated aspects of the Teotihuacan model, which included the Mesoamerican ball game. In the 8th century, Toltec influence was felt as they traveled the many routes through here in search of tropical bird plumage. From the 12th century to the 15th, the peoples of the state were influence by the Chichimecas. In the 11th century, new migrations entered the area from the north, which included the Nahuas, who occupied what is now the center of the state, the Nahuas established themselves in Zacatula, Atoyac and Tlacotepec, later conquering the areas occupied by the Chontals and Matlatzincas

36.
Oaxaca
–
Oaxaca, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca, is one of the 31 states which, along with the Federal District, make up the 32 federative entities of Mexico. It is divided into 570 municipalities, of which 418 are governed by the system of Usos y costumbres with recognized forms of self governance. Its capital city is Oaxaca de Juárez, Oaxaca is located in Southwestern Mexico. It is bordered by the states of Guerrero to the west, Puebla to the northwest, Veracruz to the north, to the south, Oaxaca has a significant coastline on the Pacific Ocean. The state is best known for its indigenous peoples and cultures, the most numerous and best known are the Zapotecs and the Mixtecs, but there are sixteen that are officially recognized. These cultures have survived better than most others in Mexico due to the states rugged, most live in the Central Valleys region, which is also an important area for tourism, attracting people for its archeological sites such as Monte Albán, native culture and crafts. Another important tourist area is the coast, which has the major resort of Huatulco, Oaxaca is also one of the most biologically diverse states in Mexico, ranking in the top three, along with Chiapas and Veracruz, for numbers of reptiles, amphibians, mammals and plants. The name of the state comes from the name of its capital city and this name comes from the Nahuatl word Huaxyacac, which refers to a tree called a guaje found around the capital city. The name was applied to the Valley of Oaxaca by Nahuatl-speaking Aztecs. The modern state was created in 1824, and the seal was designed by Alfredo Canseco Feraud. Nahuatl word Huaxyacac was transliterated as Oaxaca using Medieval Spanish orthography, in which the x represented the voiceless postalveolar fricative, however, during the sixteenth century the voiceless fricative sound evolved into a voiceless velar fricative, and Oaxaca began to be pronounced. Most of what is known about pre-historic Oaxaca comes from work in the Central Valleys region, evidence of human habitation dating back to about 11,000 years BC has been found in the Guilá Naquitz cave near the town of Mitla. More finds of nomadic peoples date back to about 5000 BC, by 2000 BC, agriculture had been established in the Central Valleys region of the state, with sedentary villages. The diet developed around this time would remain until the Spanish Conquest, consisting primarily of harvested corn, beans, chocolate, tomatoes, chili peppers, squash, meat was generally hunted and included tepescuintle, turkey, deer, peccary, armadillo and iguana. The oldest known settlements, such as Yanhuitlán and Laguna Zope are located in this area as well. The latter settlement is known for its small figures called pretty women or baby face, between 1200 and 900 BC, pottery was being produced in the area as well. This pottery has been linked with work done in La Victoria. Other important settlements from the time period include Tierras Largas, San José Mogote and Guadalupe

37.
Chiapas
–
Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the 31 states that, with the Federal District, make up the 32 federal entities of Mexico. It is divided into 122 municipalities and its capital city is Tuxtla Gutiérrez, other important population centers in Chiapas include Ocosingo, Tapachula, San Cristóbal de las Casas, Comitán and Arriaga. Chiapas has a coastline along the Pacific Ocean to the south, in general, Chiapas has a humid, tropical climate. In the north, in the area bordering Tabasco, near Teapa, in the past, natural vegetation at this region was lowland, tall perennial rainforest, but this vegetation has been destroyed almost completely to give way to agriculture and ranching. Rainfall decreases moving towards the Pacific Ocean, but it is abundant enough to allow the farming of bananas. Chiapas is home to the ancient Mayan ruins of Palenque, Yaxchilán, Bonampak and it is also home to one of the largest indigenous populations in the country with twelve federally recognized ethnicities. Much of the history is centered on the subjugation of these peoples with occasional rebellions. The last of these rebellions was the 1994 Zapatista uprising, which succeeded in obtaining new rights for indigenous people, the official name of the state is Chiapas. The name derives from Chiapan or Tepechiapan, the name of an indigenous population, the term, from Nahuatl, may mean sage seed hill or water below the hill. After the Spanish arrived, they established two cities called Chiapas de los Indios and Chiapas de los Españoles, with the name of Provincia de Chiapas for the area around the cities, the first coat of arms of the region dates from 1535 as that of the Ciudad Real. Chiapas painter Javier Vargas Ballinas designed the coat of arms. Hunter gatherers began to occupy the valley of the state around 7000 BCE. The oldest archaeological remains in the seat are located at the Santa Elena Ranch in Ocozocoautla whose finds include tools, in the pre Classic period from 1800 BCE to 300 CE, agricultural villages appeared all over the state although hunter gather groups would persist for long after the era. There is speculation that these were the forefathers of the Olmec, migrating across the Grijalva Valley and onto the plain of the Gulf of Mexico to the north. One of these peoples ancient cities is now the site of Chiapa de Corzo. This is three hundred years before the Mayans developed their calendar, the descendants of Mokaya are the Mixe-Zoque. During the pre Classic era, it is known that most of Chiapas was not Olmec, olmec-influenced sculpture can be found in Chiapas and products from the state including amber, magnetite, and ilmenite were exported to Olmec lands. The Olmecs came to what is now the northwest of the looking for amber with one of the main evidences for this called the Simojovel Ax

38.
Calakmul
–
Calakmul is a Maya archaeological site in the Mexican state of Campeche, deep in the jungles of the greater Petén Basin region. It is 35 kilometres from the Guatemalan border, Calakmul was one of the largest and most powerful ancient cities ever uncovered in the Maya lowlands. Calakmul was a major Maya power within the northern Petén Basin region of the Yucatán Peninsula of southern Mexico, Calakmul administered a large domain marked by the extensive distribution of their emblem glyph of the snake head sign, to be read Kaan. Calakmul was the seat of what has been dubbed the Kingdom of the Snake or Snake Kingdom and this Snake Kingdom reigned during most of the Classic period. Calakmul itself is estimated to have had a population of 50,000 people and had governance, at times, there are 6,750 ancient structures identified at Calakmul, the largest of which is the great pyramid at the site. Structure 2 is over 45 metres high, making it one of the tallest of the Maya pyramids, four tombs have been located within the pyramid. Like many temples or pyramids within Mesoamerica the pyramid at Calakmul increased in size by building upon the temple to reach its current size. The size of the monumental architecture is approximately 2 square kilometres. In ancient times the city core was known as Ox Te Tuun, another name associated with the site, and perhaps a larger area around it, is Chiik Naab. The lords of Calakmul identified themselves as kuhul kaanal ajaw, Divine Lords of the Snake, Calakmul is located in Campeche state in southeastern Mexico, about 35 kilometres north of the border with Guatemala and 38 kilometres north of the ruins of El Mirador. The ruins of El Tintal are 68 kilometres to the southwest of Calakmul and were linked to both El Mirador and Calakmul itself by causeway, Calakmul was about 20 kilometres south of the contemporary city of Oxpemul and approximately 25 kilometres southwest of La Muñeca. The city is located on a rise about 35 metres above a large seasonal swamp lying to the west and this swamp measures approximately 34 by 8 kilometres and was an important source of water during the rainy season. The location of Calakmul at the edge of a bajo provided two additional advantages, the soils along the edge of the swamp and access to abundant flint nodules. The city is situated on a formed by a natural 35-metre high limestone dome rising above the surrounding lowlands. This dome was artificially levelled by the Maya, at the beginning of the 21st century the area around Calakmul remained covered by dense forest. During the 1st millennium AD the area received moderate and regular rainfall, calakumul is now located within the 1,800, 000-acre Calakmul Biosphere Reserve. At its height in the Late Classic period the city is estimated to have had a population of 50,000 inhabitants, the city was the capital of a large regional state with an area of about 13,000 square kilometres. During the Terminal Classic the citys population declined dramatically and the population plummeted to 10% of its former level

39.
Mesoamerican literature
–
The traditions of indigenous Mesoamerican literature extend back to the oldest-attested forms of early writing in the Mesoamerican region, which date from around the mid-1st millennium BCE. Many of the cultures of Mesoamerica are known to have been literate societies. Mesoamerican writing systems independently from other writing systems in the world. This article summarizes current knowledge about indigenous Mesoamerican literatures in its broadest sense and describe it categorized by its literary contents, which topics are chosen to be written and spoken about. Which genres of literature are found in Mesoamerica, not surprisingly a large portion of the Mesoamerican literature that has been delivered down through time to us deals exactly with this kind of information. History, power and legacy, Another large part of the Precolumbian literature is found carved into monumental structures such as stelae, altars and this kind of literature typically documents power and heritage, memorize victories, ascension to rulership, dedications of monuments, marriages between royal lineages. Some texts are sort of every day such as descriptions of objects and their owners, graffiti inscriptions. Geoffrey Sampson distinguishes between two kinds of writing, in Mesoamerica the two types were not distinguished, and so writing, drawing, and making pictures were seen as closely related if not identical concepts. In both the Mayan and Aztec languages there is one word for writing and drawing Pictures are sometimes read phonetically and this makes it difficult for modern day scholars to distinguish between whether an inscription in a Mesoamerican script represents spoken language or is to be interpreted as a descriptive drawing. Scholars disagree on the phoneticity of other Mesoamerican scripts and iconographic styles, but many use of the Rebus principle. The monumental inscriptions were often historical records of the citystates, Famous examples include, the inscriptions of Naj Tunich records the arrival of noble pilgrims to the sacred cave. The tomb inscriptions of Pacal the famous ruler of Palenque, the many stelae of Yaxchilan, Quiriguá, Copán, Tikal and Palenque and countless other Mayan archaeological sites. The function of these kinds of historical inscriptions also served to consoliate the power of the rulers who used them also as a kind of propaganda testimonies to their power. Most of the records of wars and dances accompany scenes of the rulers, copáns texts have a far lesser emphasis on historical narrative. The stelae of the plaza, for example, are inscribed with dedicatory formulae that name the ruler as owner of the monument. Birth dates at Copán are virtually nonexistent, as also are records of war, the Copán rulers therefore lack some of the personalized history we read in the texts of newer centers in the western lowlands, such as Palenque, Yaxchilan, and Piedras Negras. See also Mayan codices and Aztec codices for fuller descriptions of the different codices, a number of Precolumbian codices written on amate paper with gesso coating remain today. Historical narratives Mixtec codices Codex Bodley Codex Colombino-Becker Codex Nuttall, for example, drinking vessels with the inscription saying The Cacao drinking cup of X or similar

40.
Uaxactun
–
Uaxactun is an ancient sacred place of the Maya civilization, located in the Petén Basin region of the Maya lowlands, in the present-day department of Petén, Guatemala. The site lies some 12 miles north of the center of Tikal. The name is spelled as Waxaktun. The name Uaxactun was given to the site by its rediscoverer, United States archeologist Sylvanus Morley and he coined the name from Maya words Waxac and Tun, to mean Eight Stones. The name has two meanings, Morleys stated reason for the name was to commemorate it as the first site where an inscription dating from the 8th Baktún of the Maya calendar was discovered. The other meaning is a pun, since Uaxactun sounds like Washington, the Carnegie Institution conducted archeological excavations there from 1926 through 1937, led by Oliver Ricketson. The excavations added greatly to knowledge of the early Classic and pre-Classic Maya, the remains of several badly ruined late Classic era temple-pyramids were removed, revealing well-preserved earlier temples underneath them. For most of the Carnegie teams time at Uaxactun, communication with the world was via a four-day mule convoy to El Cayo. Towards the end of the time an airstrip was opened, flights to Uaxactun continued and a small village grew there, as it became a center for gathering of chicle sap from the Peten jungle. In 1940 A. L. Smith and Ed Shook of the Carnegie project returned to some additional excavations. In the late 1970s a rough road was opened, connecting Uaxactun to Tikal and thence to Flores, in 1984 the road was much improved. Shook returned again in 1974 to oversee consolidation and restoration of some architecture excavated earlier, in 1982 Guatemalas Tikal National Park was expanded to include the ruins of Uaxactun within its protected area. In 1990 de Maya Biosphere Reserve was created, including Uaxactun as a part of the reserves Multiple Use Zone, in 2009 an excavation project of Slovak Archaeological and Historical Institute was started by professor Milan Kováč. Linda Schele, in A Forest of Kings, devotes a chapter to a war between Tikal and Uaxactun, in which Uaxactun was defeated by forces led by Fire is Born of Tikal. In this chapter, she gives a brief overview of the known history of Uaxactun up to the final year of the war. The combined political entity of Tikal-Uaxactun dominated the Guatemalan Petén for the following 180 years, Siyaj Kak might have come from Teotihuacán, been the general of the Teotihuacano ruler Spearthrower Owl, and conquered Tikal earlier the same year. This was a moment of the Classic Maya. After the conquest by Siyaj Kak in 378 AD, Uaxuactun was still able to keep elite prerogatives of monument carving, temple erection, there was no erection of dedicatory monuments between 554 AD and 711 AD

41.
Tikal
–
Tikal is the ruin of an ancient city, which was likely to have been called Yax Mutal, found in a rainforest in Guatemala. Ambrosio Tut, a gum-sapper, reported the ruins to La Gaceta, a Guatemalan newspaper, after the Berlin Academy of Sciences magazine republished the report in 1853, archeologists and treasure hunters began visiting the forest. Today, tourism to the site may protect the rainforest. It is one of the largest archaeological sites and urban centers of the pre-Columbian Maya civilization and it is located in the archaeological region of the Petén Basin in what is now northern Guatemala. Situated in the department of El Petén, the site is part of Guatemalas Tikal National Park, Tikal was the capital of a conquest state that became one of the most powerful kingdoms of the ancient Maya. Though monumental architecture at the dates back as far as the 4th century BC, Tikal reached its apogee during the Classic Period. There is evidence that Tikal was conquered by Teotihuacan in the 4th century AD, following the end of the Late Classic Period, no new major monuments were built at Tikal and there is evidence that elite palaces were burned. These events were coupled with a population decline, culminating with the site’s abandonment by the end of the 10th century. The name Tikal may be derived from ti akal in the Yucatec Maya language, the name was apparently applied to one of the sites ancient reservoirs by hunters and travelers in the region. It has alternatively been interpreted as meaning the place of the voices in the Itza Maya language, Tikal, however, is not the ancient name for the site but rather the name adopted shortly after its discovery in the 1840s. Hieroglyphic inscriptions at the ruins refer to the ancient city as Yax Mutal or Yax Mutul, the kingdom as a whole was simply called Mutul, which is the reading of the hair bundle emblem glyph seen in the accompanying photo. The closest large modern settlements are Flores and Santa Elena, approximately 64 kilometres by road to the southwest, Tikal is approximately 303 kilometres north of Guatemala City. It is 19 kilometres south of the contemporary Maya city of Uaxactun and 30 kilometres northwest of Yaxha, the city was located 100 kilometres southeast of its great Classic Period rival, Calakmul, and 85 kilometres northwest of Calakmuls ally Caracol, now in Belize. The city has been mapped and covered an area greater than 16 square kilometres that included about 3,000 structures. The topography of the consists of a series of parallel limestone ridges rising above swampy lowlands. The major architecture of the site is clustered upon areas of higher ground, the area around Tikal has been declared as the Tikal National Park and the preserved area covers 570 square kilometres. The ruins lie among the tropical rainforests of northern Guatemala that formed the cradle of lowland Maya civilization, the city itself was located among abundant fertile upland soils, and may have dominated a natural east–west trade route across the Yucatan Peninsula. Conspicuous trees at the Tikal park include gigantic kapok the sacred tree of the Maya, tropical cedar, jaguars, jaguarundis, and cougars are also said to roam in the park

42.
Tequixquiac
–
The name comes from Nahuatl and means place of tequesquite waters. The total municipality extends 96.37 and borders with the municipalities of Apaxco, Hueypoxtla, Zumpango, Huehuetoca, the Gran Canal de Desagüe is an artificial channel that crossing Tequixquiac, was named Xothé river in otomi language, this channel connect with Tula river and Enthó dam. Other small river is Río Salado of Hueypoxtla, Treviño river and La Pila river, the municipal seat is in a small, elongated valley but most of the municipality is on a high mesa which transitions from the Valley of Mexico to the Mezquital Valley. The highest mountain in Tequixquiac is the Cerro Mesa Ahumada, it rises 2,600 metres above sea level, Tequixquiac municipality is a rural territory of Central Mexican Plateau, here there is a diversity in plants and animals of template climate and semi-desertic climate. Inside this municipality, formerly it was populated by large mammals such as glyptodonts, mammoths, horses, bisons, during the prehistoric and these groups highlighted Acatlán AC, Granito de Arena AC. A sacrum bone found in Tequixquiac is considered a work of prehistoric art, the first indigenous settlers of Tequixquiac were the Aztecs and Otomi, who decided to settle here permanently for the abundance of rivers and springs. They were engaged mainly in agriculture and the breeding of domestic animals, in 1152, the Aztecs, on their way to the Valley of Mexico from Tula-Xicocotitlan to Tequixquiac, decided to settle for a short time at a place called Tepetongo. This land is named Teotlalpan Province by Tepanecs tribe, in 1168, the village of Tequixquiac was founded, which had approximately 250 houses scattered the length and breadth of the nearby hills. Tequixquiac village was conquered by the Aztecs under the rule of Emperor Chimalpopoca, Tequixquiac Corregimiento Zitlatepec belonged at this time the Viceroy Luis de Velasco to regulation mandates the protection of indigenous people. They gathered the dispersed families tlaxcaltecas Francisco Lopez de Tlaltzintlale by the year 1552 to strip them of their land, the Spanish empire sought to justify their acts through the Christian Missions. The Franciscans arrived in New Spain in 1524, but clerics arrived even before that to proselytize to the Indians, with the help of the Franciscan friars, the temple of Saint James the Apostle was built, raising Tequixquiac from vicarage rank to parish. The Church of Santiago Tequixquiac became a parish in 1590, the temple was dedicated to Santiago Apostol, because some families Galicia, Asturias Andalusia and Leon were in the region. At the beginning of the jurisdiction of Tequixquiac covered the current territory of Tlapanaloya without the people to be integrated into the eighteenth century. For some time I add Apaxco because it did not for an economic infraestrctura jurisdiction, during the independence movement came to the news by Tequixquiac dances and arrieria as the media. Tequixquiac was among the first peoples of that province was constituted as a municipality on November 29,1820 by joining the independence of Mexico on the basis of the Constitution of Cadiz. Bando Municipal For the December 17,1823, he published Tequixquiac the form of government that would govern the country. Mexican nation adopts for its government as representative of Peoples Federal Republic, texquixquiac was one of the first town to become a municipality under the provisions of the Cadiz Constitution, before the end of the Mexican War of Independence, becoming so on 29 November 1820. Y la Read & Campbell in 1867, the stay in campament around the Hacienda of Acatlan in El Tajo de Tequixquiac

43.
Aztec
–
The Aztec people were certain ethnic groups of central Mexico, particularly those groups who spoke the Nahuatl language and who dominated large parts of Mesoamerica from the 14th to 16th centuries. The Nahuatl words aztecatl and aztecah mean people from Aztlan, a place for the Nahuatl-speaking culture of the time. Often the term Aztec refers exclusively to the Mexica people of Tenochtitlan, situated on an island in Lake Texcoco, who referred to themselves as Mēxihcah Tenochcah or Cōlhuah Mexihcah. From the 13th century, the Valley of Mexico was the heart of Aztec civilization, here the capital of the Aztec Triple Alliance, the Triple Alliance formed a tributary empire expanding its political hegemony far beyond the Valley of Mexico, conquering other city states throughout Mesoamerica. At its pinnacle, Aztec culture had rich and complex mythological and religious traditions, as well as achieving remarkable architectural and artistic accomplishments. Subsequently, the Spanish founded the new settlement of Mexico City on the site of the ruined Aztec capital, the term extends to further ethnic groups associated with the Aztec empire such as the Acolhua and Tepanec and others that were incorporated into the empire. In older usage the term was used about modern Nahuatl speaking ethnic groups. In recent usage these ethnic groups are referred to as the Nahua peoples. Linguistically the term Aztecan is still used about the branch of the Uto-Aztecan languages that includes the Nahuatl language and its closest relatives Pochutec, to the Aztecs themselves the word aztec was not an endonym for any particular ethnic group. Rather it was a term used to refer to several ethnic groups, not all of them Nahuatl speaking. In the Nahuatl language aztecatl means person from Aztlan and this usage has been the subject of debate in more recent years, but the term Aztec is still more common. For the same reason the notion of Aztec civilization is best understood as a horizon of a general Mesoamerican civilization. Particular to the Aztecs of Tenochtitlan was the Mexica patron God Huitzilopochtli, twin pyramids, the Aztec Empire was a tribute empire based in Tenochtitlan that extended its power throughout Mesoamerica in the late postclassic period. Soon Texcoco and Tlacopan became junior partners in the alliance, which was de facto led by the Mexica of Tenochtitlan, the empire extended its power by a combination of trade and military conquest. The political clout of the empire reached far south into Mesoamerica conquering cities as far south as Chiapas and Guatemala, the Nahua peoples began to migrate into Mesoamerica from northern Mexico in the 6th century. They populated central Mexico, dislocating speakers of Oto-Manguean languages as they spread their influence south. As the former nomadic hunter-gatherer peoples mixed with the civilizations of Mesoamerica, adopting religious and cultural practices. During the Postclassic period they rose to power at such sites as Tula, in the 12th century the Nahua power center was in Azcapotzalco, from where the Tepanecs dominated the valley of Mexico

44.
Coyolxauhqui
–
In Aztec mythology, Coyolxauhqui was a daughter of Coatlicue and Mixcoatl and is the leader of the Centzon Huitznahuas, the southern star gods. Coyolxauhqui ruled over her brothers, the Four Hundred Southerners, she led them in attack against their mother, Coatlicue, the miraculous pregnancy of Coatlicue, the maternal Earth deity, made her other children embarrassed, including her oldest daughter Coyolxauhqui. As Coatlicue swept the temple, a few hummingbird feathers fell into her chest, coatlicue’s child Huitzilopochtli sprang from her womb in full war armor and killed Coyolxauhqui and her other 400 brothers, who had been attacking their mother. He cut off her limbs, then tossed her head into the sky where it became the moon, a large shield-shaped stone relief reflecting this story was found at the base of the stairs of the Templo Mayor. On this disk, Coyolxauhqui is shown spread out on her side, with her head, arms, the orbiting full moon in the stone carving reflects her position as the moon goddess. She is distinguished by bells of eagle down in her hair, a symbol on her cheek. As with images of her mother, she is shown with a skull tied to her belt, scholars also believe that the decapitation and destruction of Coyolxauhqui is reflected in the pattern of warrior ritual sacrifice. First, captives’ hearts were cut out, then the bodies were cast from the temple. At the bottom of the stairs, near the Coyolxauhqui stone, coyolxauhqui’s celestial associations are not limited to the moon. Other scholars believe that she should be understood as the Goddess of the Milky Way, Aztec sun stone Stone of Motecuhzoma I Stone of Tizoc Duran, Fray Diego. The History of the Indies of New Spain, university of Oklahoma Press, Norman Oklahoma,1994. In-depth interactive exploring Coyolxauhqui and her story by the J. Paul Getty Museum, features the Head of Coyolxauhqui, found near the Templo Mayor, Mexico City. Museo Nacional de Antropología Media related to Coyolxauhqui at Wikimedia Commons

45.
Templo Mayor
–
The Templo Mayor was one of the main temples of the Aztecs in their capital city of Tenochtitlan, which is now Mexico City. Its architectural style belongs to the late Postclassic period of Mesoamerica, the spire in the center of the adjacent image was devoted to Quetzalcoatl in his form as the wind god, Ehecatl. The Great Temple devoted to Huitzilopochtli and Tlaloc, measuring approximately 100 by 80 m at its base, construction of the first temple began sometime after 1325, and it was rebuilt six times. The temple was destroyed by the Spanish in 1521 to make way for the new cathedral, today, the archeological site lies just to the northeast of the Zocalo, or main plaza of Mexico City, in the block between Seminario and Justo Sierra streets. The site is part of the Historic Center of Mexico City, after the destruction of Tenochtitlan, the Templo Mayor, like most of the rest of the city, was taken apart and covered over by the new Spanish colonial city. The Temple’s exact location was forgotten, although by the 20th-century scholars had an idea where to look for it. This was based on the work done at the end of the 19th century. Leopoldo Batres did some work at the end of the 19th century under the Mexico City Metropolitan Cathedral because at this time. In the first decades of the 20th century, Manuel Gamio found part of the southwest corner of the temple, however, it did not generate great public interest in excavating further because the zone was an upper-class residential area. In 1933, Emilio Cuevas found part of a staircase and beam, in 1948, Hugo Moedano and Elma Estrada Balmori excavated a platform containing serpent heads and offerings. In 1966, Eduardo Contreras and Jorge Angula excavated a chest containing offerings that was first explored by Gamio, the push to fully excavate the site did not come until late in the 20th century. On 21 February 1978, workers for the company were digging at a place in the city then popularly known as the island of the dogs. It was so named because it was elevated over the rest of the neighborhood. Just over two meters down, the diggers struck a pre-Hispanic monolith and this stone turned out to be a huge disk of over 3.25 meters in diameter,30 centimeters thick and weighing 8.5 metric tons. The relief on the stone was later determined to be Coyolxauhqui, Huitzilopochtlis sister, from 1978 to 1982, specialists directed by archeologist Eduardo Matos Moctezuma worked on the project to excavate the Temple. Initial excavations found many of the artifacts were in good enough condition to study. Efforts coalesced into the Templo Mayor Project, which was authorized by presidential decree, to excavate,13 buildings in this area had to be demolished. Nine of these were built in the 1930s and four dated from the 19th century and these objects are housed in the Templo Mayor Museum

46.
Tabasco
–
Tabasco, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Tabasco, is one of the 31 states which, with the Federal District, comprise the 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 17 municipalities and its capital city is Villahermosa and it is located in the southeast of the country bordering the states of Campeche to the northeast, Veracruz to the west and Chiapas to the south, and the Petén department of Guatemala to the southeast. It has a coastline to the north with the Gulf of Mexico, most of the state is covered in rainforest as, unlike most other areas of Mexico, it has plentiful rainfall year round. For this reason, it is covered in small lakes, wetlands. The state is subject to flooding events, with the last occurring in 2007. The state is home to La Venta, the major site of the Olmec civilization. Even though it produces significant quantities of petroleum and natural gas, the state is located in the southeast of Mexico, bordering the states of Campeche, Chiapas and Veracruz with the Gulf of Mexico to the north and the country of Guatemala to the south and east. The state covers 24,731 square kilometres, which is 1. 3% of Mexicos total, the northwestern portion is on the coastal plain of the Gulf of Mexico with the south and east as part of the mountain chain that extends into northern Chiapas. It is divided into seventeen municipalities, there are 36 communities designated as urban with about 3,000 smaller towns and villages. 185 are classified as regional development centers, in 1994, the state was officially divided into two regions, five sub regions for socioeconomic development and geographic documentation. The two major regions are called the Grijalva and the Usumacinta, the Grijalva Region is named after the river on which most of the municipalities here are dependent. The Usumacinta Region is named after the river on which the Centla, Jonuta, Emiliano Zapata, Balancán. It is divided into the Pantanos and Ríos subregions, which are more rural than the Grijalva Region. The environment of the consists of extensive low lying floodplains, mountains. Most of the territory is covered with tropical rainforest and wetlands, there are also areas with savanna, beaches and mangrove forests. Much of the rainforest has suffered due to over logging. The east is formed by low humid plains formed by sediment deposited by a number of rivers, in the Chontalpa zone and in parts of the municipalities of Cental and Jonuta, there are swampy depressions extremely vulnerable to flooding from both river flow and from excessive rainfall. In the south there are some elevations which are part of the central mesa of Chiapas, the most important of these is El Madrigal, La Campana, La Corona, Pomaná, Coconá, Mono Pelado and El Tortuguero

Pyramid principal de La Venta, one of the oldest pyramids in the Americas.

The Castillo, Chichen Itza, Mexico, ca. 800-900 CE. A temple to Kukulkan sits atop this pyramid with a total of 365 stairs on its four sides. At the spring and fallequinoxes, the sun casts a shadow in the shape of a serpent along the northern staircase.

Mesoamerica, along with Mesopotamia and China, is among the three known places in the world where writing has developed …

Monument 3 at San Jose Mogote. The two shaded glyphs between his legs are likely his name, Earthquake 1.

Detail showing three columns of glyphs from 2nd century CE La Mojarra Stela 1 currently located at the Museum of Anthropology of Xalapa, Veracruz, Mexico. The two right columns are glyphs from the Epi-Olmec script. The left column gives a Long Count date of 8.5.16.9.9, or 162 CE.

Mesoamerican calendars are the calendrical systems devised and used by the pre-Columbian cultures of Mesoamerica. …

Image: Monte Alban Stela 12 & 13

The back of Stela C from Tres Zapotes, an Olmec archaeological site. This is the second oldest Long Count date yet discovered. The numerals 7.16.6.16.18 translate to September 1, 32 BCE (Gregorian). The glyphs surrounding the date are what is thought to be one of the few surviving examples of Epi-Olmec script.